In this special follow-up to Lesson 1 of the Tea Party Patriots Action constitutional training, Jenny Beth Martin and Bill Norton dig into the founding principles behind the Declaration of Independence — and the history most Americans were never taught. From the committee edit that gave us the Declaration's most iconic phrase to the handwriting research that rewrites two centuries of Franklin lore, this is the foundation the current fights over our government all come back to.
Bill Norton is a constitutional scholar and author of The Miracle of America, Speaking the Language of Liberty, and Behind the Bill of Rights, with Behind the Declaration of Independence releasing soon.
Today's topics:
• Congress, not Jefferson, wrote "endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights"
• Handwriting research returns "self evident" to Jefferson after two centuries of Franklin credit
• Jefferson called the Declaration "the expression of the American mind," not one man's work
• John Adams' 1787 survey of world governments that shaped the state and federal constitutions
• Jefferson's cut-and-paste Gospels: the first red letter Bible, and his "I am a Christian" letter
• Why separation of church and state was designed to make religion flourish, not shrink
• Speaking the language of liberty vs. the language of captivity, and why intent matters
• The COVID lockdowns as a test of first principles, from Georgia to Arizona
• Madison on amending the Constitution and the people's right to establish, alter, and abolish
• Free constitutional training at teapartypatriots.org/1776
The Jenny Beth Show airs live Monday through Friday at 1:00 PM ET. Hosted by Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party movement and Chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action. Subscribe for daily analysis of politics, policy, and the fight for constitutionally limited government. teapartypatriots.org
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