Civic Knowledge Preserves Our Nation

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The American Experiment
Educating for Freedom
by Professor Alberto R. Coll
Read what a Jack Miller Center professor partner has to say about how he helps students understand and appreciate the freedom America offers to each of them.

The following is an abridged version of Professor Coll's essay featured in our Winter 2023 issue of
The American Experiment ([link removed]) . To receive a printed edition, please click here (mailto:[email protected]?subject=American%20Experiment%20in%20Print&body=Dear%20Matt%2C%0A%0AI%20would%20like%20to%20receive%20future%20issues%20of%20the%20American%20Experiment.%20You%20can%20mail%20them%20to%3A%0A%0AName%3A%0AAddress%3A) .

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How do we educate our students for freedom?

After all, many of them arrive in college today believing that the United States is systematically oppressive, hopelessly unjust, and that there is not much worth celebrating or defending about our country (or so they have been taught along the way).
So, I often start my class by asking them a simple question: “Out of the world’s twenty largest countries, in which country would you rather live?”

I pick the world’s twenty largest countries because size matters. The larger a society’s size, the more complex will be its social, economic, and political problems, and the greater the difficulty of maintaining freedom and representative government in the midst of sharp political differences and quarrelling factions and interest groups—something which Alexander Hamilton wrote about quite extensively in the Federalist Papers.
In descending order of size, the world's twenty largest countries are:
Moreover, each country’s character as a free society must be judged, not by reference to some abstract ideal standard, but by reference to societies that actually exist in today’s world. This is not a trivial point. The most horrible atrocities committed in the last century, numbering in the hundreds of millions of victims, were carried out by people enamored of some beautiful future vision of perfection.

The United States’ size as a society of 337 million people is particularly challenging. Its mere existence and continuing resilience as a functioning democratic republic are nothing short of remarkable, a testament to its Constitution, its legal and political institutions, and its founding principles.
In the stretch of some 5,000 years of recorded human history, societies in which large numbers of individuals are free and enjoy a vast array of personal freedoms are incredibly rare. In fact, with the qualified, and fleeting, exceptions of classical Athens, free societies are a recent phenomenon going back only a couple of centuries, not coincidentally since the founding of the United States.
America's Unique Character of Freedom
Once most students take a close look at that list of the world's twenty largest countries, and ask themselves where they would rather live, they begin to understand that the United States may not be as oppressive as they thought or were led to believe.

They start to understand that the study and practice of politics is hard work, that human beings and their political systems are inherently flawed, and that comparative assessments of our society against societies as they really are, as opposed to some abstract standard of justice, is necessary for serious political thinking.

Within that recognition, there is plenty of space for thinking about constructive change and reform. Indeed, the United States has been undergoing constructive change and reform since the very first decade of its founding, painful as that change sometimes has been.

And yet there is room also for a robust patriotism which acknowledges that love of country can be a proper sentiment and moral stance as a prelude to responsible political thought and action.

Click Here ([link removed]) to read Professor Coll's full essay

Alberto R. Coll ([link removed]) is the Vincent de Paul Professor of Law and Director of Global Engagement at DePaul University's College of Law. He is a JMC faculty partner and has contributed significantly to our K-12 efforts through the Founding Civics Initiative, leading a variety of programs for middle and high school teachers.
We Need Your Support
The biggest threat to our nation's future is an uninformed citizenry that lacks an understanding and appreciation for our founding principles.
Too many students graduate having never learned about the American political tradition—the history and values of self-government and the freedom it gives each of them to achieve their dreams.

The Jack Miller Center is building a movement of civics teachers, scholars, and concerned citizens who seek to preserve the American political tradition. And we've already reached 1.65 million students from K-12 through college. With your support, we can reach tens of millions more.
Please, join us in the effort. Help grow our network of dedicated college educators. Give K-12 teachers the knowledge, content, and resources they need. Help us restore civic education grounded in America's founding principles and history.

Your donation, large or small, will be a crucial investment in the future of our country. This will be one of the most important inheritances you leave your children, your grandchildren, and their children.
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About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers dedicated to educating the next generation about the core texts and ideas of the American political tradition.

We have three strategies to pursue this mission:
1. build and sustain a community of scholars in the fields of American political thought and history;
2. restore the teaching of American citizenship in K-12 schools that centers on the country’s history, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and other foundational texts in the American tradition; and
3. partner with organizations and philanthropists to advance civic education that is grounded in America’s founding principles and history.

Learn more at www.jackmillercenter.org ([link removed])

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