Learning from historical progress and missteps

What is a Patriotic Education?

On September 17, 2020, President Trump announced the creation of a "1776 Commission" ([link removed]) to promote patriotic, civic education. The goal is to examine the truth of America's legacy without making "students ashamed of their own history."

A patriotic education shows our achievements toward realizing our vision that "all men are created equal" and "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights", while also recognizing our serious missteps.

In order to better understand American political development and the America we face today, we must understand how American history is fulfilling its founding vision (and those times in which our country has failed this vision).

See below for highlights in our movement toward the realization of that vision.
History can always teach us something about the present, but only if it remains a priority. Without knowledge of our predecessors' struggles and triumphs, we have no basis to make important decisions about our country's future.

JMC supports those teachers who are championing education in America's history and its founding principles. Our growing network of nearly 1,000 dedicated professors are making a difference on hundreds of campuses across the country. So far, they have taught more than one million students. Will you help us reach more?

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Fulfilling the American Promise of Liberty & Equality

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1776
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration proclaims that "…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This document set the vision and the goals to which we as a nation have been working towards.
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1787
The Northwest Ordinance
Though it continues to support the capture of escaped slaves, the Northwest Ordinance takes a major step forward by banning slavery in the Northwestern Territories. “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the

said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.”

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1789
The Constitution
Proposed in 1787, the Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788, and comes into force on March 4, 1789 with a commitment to liberty and justice:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." In order to form a union, the framers were forced to compromise with southern states to allow slavery. But, hoping for slavery to die out, they put a provision into Section 9 of the Constitution that ultimately allowed Congress toprohibit the import of slaves in 1807 ([link removed]) .

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1848
The Seneca Falls Convention
After being banned from participation in the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention on the basis of sex, several women are inspired to hold the first American women's rights convention at Seneca Falls, NY in 1848. Their Declaration of Sentiments calls for the fulfillment of rights for all, with the phrase "all men and women are created equal." Today, this convention is recognized as the beginning of the American women's rights movement.

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1863
The Emancipation Proclamation
The Proclamation abolishes slavery in parts of the country controlled by the Confederate States of America. The Presidential Order also authorizes the mustering of black men as federal regiments.

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1865
The 13th Amendment
Slavery is banned in the United States: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
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1868
The 14th Amendment
All persons born or naturalized in the United States are made citizens. Citizens are guaranteed equal protection under the law, regardless of race: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the

jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The amendment officially overturns Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) ([link removed]) , in which the Supreme Court ruled that African-Americans were not free citizens under the Constitution.
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1920
The 19th Amendment
Women's right to vote is recognized by the United States government: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

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1954
Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court unanimously rules against legal segregation in public schools. "We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are

inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment."
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1964
The Civil Rights Act
Following the Supreme Court's ruling in 1954, Congress passes legislation banning discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, and national origin in employment, education, voting, and public facilities.

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1965
The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act enforces the Fifteenth Amendment by outlawing discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including poll taxes and literacy tests as prerequisites to voting.

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1965
The Immigration and Nationality Act
This Congressional act eliminates the National Origins Formula ([link removed]) , which had been used to preserve the ethnic proportionality of the population in the United States since 1921. Immigrants are no longer denied on the basis of
national origin, race, or ancestry. This increases the overall number of immigrants coming to the U.S. as well as the number of countries from which immigrants are leaving.
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1966
Bond v. Floyd
Substantive support for wartime free speech (regardless of popular opinion) comes in Bond v. Floyd (1966). The Supreme Court rules that public officials are free to exercise their right to free speech, even when this speech may be interpreted as anti-American. After wartime years in which citizens could be prosecuted for criticizing the government (see Sedition Act of 1918 ([link removed]) ), the Court's decision was a major step forward in First Amendment protections.

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1972
Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits educational institutions with federal funding from discriminating against students or employees based on sex: “No person
in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

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1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act
Partially modeled on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this act "prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as

everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life," including equal employment opportunities and participation in government programs and services.

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Failures to Our Declaration's Vision
Despite America's progress towards liberty and equality for all, there have been failures along the way: The Indian Removal Act (1830) ([link removed]) resulted in thousands of Native American deaths on a forced march westwards, Dred v. Sandford (1857) ([link removed]) ruled that African-Americans were not free citizens, the Emergency Quota Act (1921) ([link removed]) restricted immigration based on race and national origin, Executive Order 9066 (1942) ([link removed]) unjustly imprisoned thousands of Japanese-Americans without any charges.

We must be aware of and acknowledge such missteps in our past so that we try to avoid injustices like them in the future.

Though realizing the vision in our Declaration of Independence has has been slow and difficult, we must recognize and celebrate that we have had many more triumphs than failures.

All aspects of the American story should be learned by our children. Only by understanding our predecessors' great achievements and serious struggles will they grow up to be patriotic Americans who continue to move our Declaration's vision forward.
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About the Jack Miller Center

The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to reinvigorate education in America's founding principles and history. We work to advance the teaching and study of America's history, its political and economic institutions, and the central principles, ideas and issues arising from the American and Western traditions—all of which continue to animate our national life.

We support professors and educators through programs, resources, fellowships and more to help them teach our nation's students.

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