Civics & Citizenship

Recapture Our American Civil Discourse

Candace teaches the fundamentals of liberty that inspired the American system of government.
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Understanding and Preserving Our Fundamental Rights

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If someone were to ask you what your fundamental rights as an American are, how would you answer? Many people cite freedom of religion or the right to bear arms as their fundamental American rights. However, those rights are in the Constitution, specifically, the Bill of Rights ratified in 1791. Our country was born in 1776 on the fundamental rights in the Declaration of Independence: the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  What the Declaration Meant, Then and Now Walter Isaacson, in his book “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written” (The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (2025), Simon & Schuster), devotes a section to the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, specifically property. He notes that our Founders studied John Locke’s theory of justice, which claims that if YOU own your possessions (not the government), you preserve your liberty and individual rights (Isaacson, p. 25). Isaacson interprets Jefferson’s formulation as, “the pursuit of …

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Parchment and Promise: American Founders’ Courage

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Standing before the original Declaration at the National Archives, I felt the quiet gravity of the moment—56 pens poised to risk everything to birth a nation. It’s Summer, 1776. The signers of the Declaration of Independence gather for an overwhelming task. What kind of guts does it take to start a nation that puts The People truly in charge while separating from a king with “a decent respect” as they listed their grievances, one by one. Where does such courage come from? I saw it at the National Archives. I could almost feel the tension, nerve, resolve, steady hand, and team spirit of the signers. To this day, I wonder what the moment of adoption and signing was like. It's easy to say, "Hear! Hear!"—quite another to sign the parchment. Imagine What It Was Like for the Signers The average age of the 56 signers was 44, with 12 under 30. I understand the guts of a young person with a cause. I understand the elderly signers who have lived a life dreaming of freedom and are …

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Candace has a variety of teaching experiences and is a certified instructor for adults and homeschoolers through the Institute on the Constitution. Her hobbies include walking, world travel, Pilates, writing, and spending time with her grandsons. …

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Recent Articles

Understanding and Preserving Our Fundamental Rights

If someone were to ask you what your fundamental rights as an American are, how would you answer? Many people cite freedom of religion or the right to bear arms as their fundamental American rights. However, those rights are in the Constitution, specifically, the Bill of Rights ratified in 1791. Our country was born in […]

Parchment and Promise: American Founders’ Courage

Standing before the original Declaration at the National Archives, I felt the quiet gravity of the moment—56 pens poised to risk everything to birth a nation. It’s Summer, 1776. The signers of the Declaration of Independence gather for an overwhelming task. What kind of guts does it take to start a nation that puts The […]

Unalienable or Inalienable: Which Right Is Correct?

In this year of America’s 250th birthday, we continue our study of the Declaration of Independence. Do you say “inalienable” or “unalienable”? Origin of “unalienable” in the Declaration of Independence Walter Isaacson, in his book “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written” (The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (2025), Simon & Schuster), points out that the word “inalienable” […]

Avoid Tribal Media: Choose Civic Unity

Problems caused by partisan, manipulative, and low‑quality media What kind of media should Americans avoid if they don’t want to break up into a tribal nation (a nation where citizens divide politically, economically, socially, and go to war against each other and eventually break apart)? See also https://civicsandcitizenship.org/americas-challenge-preventing-a-tribal-future/ Don’t consume a steady diet of media […]

Discipline, Faith, and Washington’s Leadership

Recently, I closed an article with this sentence:  “Leadership matters…let’s reflect on the importance of leadership, not only whether we like a person or a movement, but also how well we are led.”   I came across a couple of General George Washington’s quotes that highlight the discipline and character he expected of individual soldiers […]

Fraternal Affection vs. Factional Fury

What would it look like if America divided itself into two warring divisions with the promise of retribution if one or the other division won power? Let’s look at wisdom from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln that is as relevant today as it was during their time. Guarding Against Partisan Jealousies Washington warned in his […]

America’s Challenge: Preventing a Tribal Future

Do you think tribalism is America’s future? I always thought “tribal” meant “ethnic only.” People can divide over many types of differences: political, economic, or social differences are a few examples. I recently learned that countries in Africa became tribal. They were not necessarily inherently tribal. What about the former Czechoslovakia? At one point, they […]

Did the Declaration Exclude Women and Minorities? 

The Declaration of Independence uses the noun “Men” and not “Women.” Today’s cultural drift has encouraged us to take issue with the use of the word “Men” as it is not inclusive, they say. I would argue that, indeed, the word “Men,” as used in our founding documents, includes all humans today. Historical Meaning of […]

Presidents’ Day Reflections

As we celebrate Presidents’ Day, I think about some of our defining moments in history and leadership. What comes to mind is the American War for Independence, the Civil War, World War II, and today. Whatever defining moments we have in our American history, presidential leadership matters in each of them. I am reflecting on […]