July is a month of celebrations of independence- in the United States, Canada, France, and the Bahamas, to name a few.
In addition to the terrific new content we introduce below, we wanted to take a moment and highlight just some of the other resources from our family of sites that might tickle your Independence Day fancy.
There’s probably no better place to start exploring the American experience than in the American Revolution and Constitution Collection at the Online Library of Liberty. While you’re there, you may want to show the Anti-Federalists some love, too. If you’re curious about the reading habits of the Founders, you can explore their libraries in this bibliographic essay. And for the Franco-philes, the OLL also has a terrific Collection on the French Revolution waiting for you to dig in.
Our most popular Article ever is from Jeffrey Rogers Hummel in 2018, turning the Revolution into an externality story. He writes, “In fact, the American Revolution, despite all its obvious costs and excesses, brought about enormous net benefits not just for citizens of the newly independent United States but also, over the long run, for people across the globe.”
In 2008, Russ welcomed famed American historian Joseph Ellis to EconTalk to discuss the triumphs and tragedies of the founding of the United States. In 2014, Yuval Levin joined him to talk about the contrasting nature of the support Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke had for the American revolutionaries.
How familiar are you with the Federalist Papers? At Law & Liberty, Henry Edmondson offers up some reasons they’re still relevant today.
Adam Smith might not spring immediately to mind when you think about Independence Day, but maybe he should. In the Wealth of Nations, he suggested Britain should let the colonies go! EconLog’s David Henderson explores Smith’s case against imperialism in this Essay, part of their 1776 and the American Founding Collection.
We hope you enjoy the selections above and all the new content we bring you below. We wish you a terrific month, and we’ll be back next month with more.
Until then, stay well and stay curious.
