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  • Liberalism and Social Action

     |  Progressive Rejection of the Founding

    Liberalism and Social Action Liberalism and Social Action 1 John Dewey (1859-1952) As a leading Progressive scholar from the 1880s onward, Dewey, who taught mainly at Columbia University, devoted much of his life to redefining the idea of education. His thought was influenced by German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel, and central to it was a denial of objective truth and an embrace of historicism and moral relativism. As such he was critical of the American founding. 1935 1. The History of Liberalism ...The natural beginning of the inquiry in which we are engaged is consideration of the origin and past development of liberalism. It is to this topic that the present chapter is devoted. The conclusion reached from a brief survey of history, namely ...
  • The American Conception of Liberty

     |  Progressive Rejection of the Founding

    The American Conception of Liberty The American Conception of Liberty 1 Frank Goodnow (1859-1939) Progressive political science was based on the assumption that society could be organized in such a way that social ills would disappear. Goodnow, president of Johns Hopkins University and the first president of the American Political Science Association, helped pioneer the idea that separating politics from administration was the key to progress. In this speech, given at Brown University, he addresses the need to move beyond the ideas of the Founders. 1916 The end of the eighteenth century was marked by the formulation and general acceptance by thinking men in Europe of a political philosophy which laid great emphasis on individual private rights ...
  • What is Progress?

     |  Progressive Rejection of the Founding

    What is Progress What is Progress? 1 Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) After earning a Ph.D. in both history and political science at Johns Hopkins University, Wilson held various academic positions, culminating in the presidency of Princeton University. Throughout this period, he came to see the Constitution as a cumbersome instrument unfit for the government of a large and vibrant nation. This speech, delivered during his successful campaign for president in 1912 and included in a collection of speeches called The New Freedom, puts forward the idea of an evolving, or "living," constitution. 1913 In that sage and veracious chronicle, "Alice Through the Looking-Glass," it is recounted how, on a noteworthy occasion, the little heroine is seized by the Red Chess Queen ...
  • The Inspiration of the Declaration

     |  Progressive Rejection of the Founding

    The Inspiration of the Declaration The Inspiration of the Declaration 1 Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) President Coolidge delivered this speech on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Rejecting Progressivism root and branch, he defends America's founding principles. July 5, 1926 We meet to celebrate the birthday of America. The coming of a new life always excites our interest. Although we know in the case of the individual that it has been an infinite repetition reaching back beyond our vision, that only makes it the more wonderful. But how our interest and wonder increase when we behold the miracle of the birth of a new nation. It is to pay our tribute of reverence and respect to those who participated in such a mighty event ...
  • Commonwealth Club Address

     |  New Deal and Great Society

    Commonwealth Club Address Commonwealth Club Address 1 Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) Delivered by Roosevelt to California's Commonwealth Club during his first run for the White House, this speech was penned by Adolf Berle, a noted scholar and a member of Roosevelt's "Brain Trust" who drew deeply upon earlier Progressive thought, especially that of John Dewey. September 23, 1932 ...I want to speak not of politics but of Government. I want to speak not of parties, but of universal principles. They are not political, except in that larger sense in which a great American once expressed a definition of politics, that nothing in all of human life is foreign to the science of politics. I do want to give you, however, a recollection of a long ...
  • Democratic Convention Address

     |  New Deal and Great Society

    Democratic Convention Address Democratic Convention Address 1 Franklin D. Roosevelt Having launched the New Deal, an ambitious program of political and economic re-engineering aimed at ending the Great Depression, President Roosevelt accepted his party's nomination to run for a second term. In this speech at the 1936 Democratic Convention, he defends his programs—some of which had been struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court—and tags opponents as "economic royalists." June 27, 1936 Senator Robinson, Members of the Democratic Convention, my friends: Here, and in every community throughout the land, we are met at a time of great moment to the future of the Nation. It is an occasion to be dedicated to the simple and sincere expression ...
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