36
Lectures
30
minutes/lecture
1.
The Birth of Freedom
In the gray dawn of September 21, 490 B.C., 9,000 citizen-soldiers of Athens formed ranks on a plain by the Bay of Marathon. Before sunset, they would fight the seminal battle in the history of freedom. Who were they? What were they fighting for? With these questions, our course begins.
1.
The Birth of Freedom
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19.
The Shot Heard ’Round the World
In the predawn darkness of April 19, 1775, 77 citizen-soldiers of Lexington, Massachusetts, formed ranks on their village green. Before noon, they would fight the greatest battle in the history of freedom since Marathon. Who were they? What were they fighting for? With these questions begins the second half of our course.
19.
The Shot Heard ’Round the World
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2.
Athenian Democracy
The Persian Wars made Athens the leader of the Greek world. Under Pericles, Athens became history's first true democracy—and an imperial power. What is the Athenian legacy to freedom?
2.
Athenian Democracy
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20.
The Tyranny of George III
What turned loyal British colonists into armed traitors declaring their independence? Edmund Burke suggested the answer when he observed that in England, "the great contests for freedom were, from the earliest times, chiefly upon the question of taxes."
20.
The Tyranny of George III
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3.
Athens—Freedom and Cultural Creativity
Athenian freedom sparked an intellectual revolution that rivaled the scientific revolution of our own day. The Athenians invented the liberal arts in order to educate free citizens for self-government.
3.
Athens—Freedom and Cultural Creativity
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21.
What the Declaration of Independence Says
America is the first nation in history founded upon a statement of principles. The Declaration draws upon two great legacies of freedom: the natural-law tradition of Greece and Rome, and the experience of England.
21.
What the Declaration of Independence Says
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4.
Athenian Tragedy—Education for Freedom
Tragedy was the characteristic cultural statement of Athenian democracy. Sophocles's plays about the House of Oedipus are key documents in the history of freedom, exploring enduring questions of morality, law, and conscience.
4.
Athenian Tragedy—Education for Freedom
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22.
Natural Law and the Declaration
Born in democratic Athens, refined by Cicero, affirmed by St. Paul, and incorporated into first Roman and then the English common law, natural law would prove crucial to the American founding.
22.
Natural Law and the Declaration
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5.
Socrates on Trial
In 399 B.C., a recently defeated Athens executed Socrates for impiety. The trial remains a test case for all democratic societies, and Socrates an enduring witness to freedom and the power of ideas.
5.
Socrates on Trial
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23.
Miracle at Philadelphia
"Miracles do not cluster. Hold on to the Constitution," said Daniel Webster. Wondrous as the Constitution is, it is also explicable as the work of statesmen educated for freedom, and steeped in the lessons of history.
23.
Miracle at Philadelphia
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6.
Alexander the Great
The conquests of this young prince of Macedon opened a new epoch in the history of Greece, the world, and freedom.
6.
Alexander the Great
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24.
What the Constitution Says
Here you will "visit" a state ratifying convention in order to analyze both the Constitution (especially as explained by The Federalist) and the case made by its Anti-Federalist foes, who argued that small republics and virtue both private and public are the best safeguards forliberty.
24.
What the Constitution Says
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7.
The Roman Republic
The American Founders took the Roman republic's balanced constitution as a model. It secured liberty under law. Under it; Rome rose to mastery of a world empire.
7.
The Roman Republic
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25.
The Bill of Rights
Basic to the Constitution's success has been the ability to amend it. A careful analysis of the first two Amendments paves the way for discussions of the relevance of the Framers' intent to America today and of the Founders' belief that every right entails a corresponding duty.
25.
The Bill of Rights
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8.
Julius Caesar
By the first century B.C., Rome was the only superpower in its world. Yet at the height of their power, the Romans lost their political liberty and turned to Julius Caesar. How did this happen? What did it mean for freedom?
8.
Julius Caesar
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26.
Liberty and Lee at Gettysburg
The American founding did not resolve the questions of slavery and union. Both were settled only by the Civil War. This lecture asks why a man of Lee's character, who saw the wrong of slavery, chose nonetheless to follow his state and the Confederate cause.
26.
Liberty and Lee at Gettysburg
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9.
Freedom in the Roman Empire
If the Caesars ended political liberty, they also expanded individual freedom. A look at a day in the life of Pompeii suggests that, in many ways, the Rome of the Caesars is the model for America today.
9.
Freedom in the Roman Empire
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27.
Liberty and Lincoln at Gettysburg
Lincoln's address over those who fell in the Civil War's biggest battle took only moments, but spoke to the ages. It is as basic an American founding document as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
27.
Liberty and Lincoln at Gettysburg
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10.
Rome—Freedom and Cultural Creativity
As in the Athenian democracy, freedom in the Roman Empire led to a burst of intellectual creativity that would lay the foundations for the next 1,000 years of European civilization.
10.
Rome—Freedom and Cultural Creativity
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28.
FDR and the Progressive Tradition
FDR's reforms played a crucial role in meeting the awful test of the Great Depression, and may have saved constitutional government in America.
28.
FDR and the Progressive Tradition
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11.
Gibbon on Rome’s Decline and Fall
For the Founders and Edward Gibbon, the fall of Rome was the tale of how a people had traded republican liberty for the false security of absolutism. What can the Roman Empire's decline teach us today?
11.
Gibbon on Rome’s Decline and Fall
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29.
Why the French Revolution Failed
The excesses of democracy in France spawned tyranny and wars of conquest. Why did these excesses occur, and how did the young American republic manage to avoid them?
29.
Why the French Revolution Failed
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12.
Jesus
What makes Jesus of Nazareth, who, like Socrates, never wrote a book or had any wealth or worldly power, one of the most important figures in the history of human freedom?
12.
Jesus
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30.
The Liberal Tradition
The mighty tradition of liberty under law and representative government runs back to the Magna Carta and beyond. More recently, this tradition has been powerfully shaped by great classical liberal thinkers such as Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Lord Acton.
30.
The Liberal Tradition
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13.
Jesus and Socrates
Jesus and Socrates invite comparison as awe-inspiring teachers, as seminal figures in the history of freedom, and as witnesses to the claims of conscience.
13.
Jesus and Socrates
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31.
Churchill and the War for Freedom
On June 4, 1940—amid the sternest days in his country's history—Britain's new Prime Minister vowed that his island nation would "never surrender." He was a model of true statesmanship, and freedom's champion in an hour of urgent peril.
31.
Churchill and the War for Freedom
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14.
Paul the Apostle
Paul's preaching drew upon concepts of freedom in some of the most innovative currents of Roman imperial thought. His letter to the Galatians is rightly regarded as the Magna Carta of Christian liberty.
14.
Paul the Apostle
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32.
The Illiberal Tradition
This lecture examines the ideas that shaped Hitler's nightmare vision. Despite Hitler's defeat, nationalism, socialism, and vulgarized Darwinism remain influential today as counterfeit forms of liberty.
32.
The Illiberal Tradition
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15.
Freedom in the Middle Ages
Far from being an age of absolutism, the Middle Ages in Western Europe saw the growth of ideas and institutions basic to the history of liberty, including representative government and the right to revolution.
15.
Freedom in the Middle Ages
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33.
Hitler and the War Against Freedom
Hitler's career shows what happens when a nation and its leaders lose their moral compass. His terrifying story teaches us that free peoples must hold the values of liberty as universal and be willing to defend them if liberty is to endure.
33.
Hitler and the War Against Freedom
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16.
Luther and the Protestant Reformation
Luther is one of the proofs that great men and women—not anonymous forces—make history. He shattered the medieval world and unleashed currents that continue to shape the history of freedom.
16.
Luther and the Protestant Reformation
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34.
The Cold War
World War II added to the power of Stalin, a tyrant no less despotic than his enemy Hitler. But standing guard over freedom was an America led by presidents like Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan, all of whom shared the great liberal idea that those with power have a moral duty to defend the weak.
34.
The Cold War
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17.
From Machiavelli to the Divine Right of Kings
Are the state and its leaders bound by the same moral values that should govern private conduct? Machiavelli said no. His praise of the absolute, amoral state laid the basis for the greatest single challenge to freedom in the modern age.
17.
From Machiavelli to the Divine Right of Kings
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35.
Civil Disobedience and Social Change
In the decades after 1945, nonviolent campaigns for freedom—and above all the movement against racial discrimination led by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.—made key contributions to the growth of liberty.
35.
Civil Disobedience and Social Change
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18.
The Anglo-American Tradition of Liberty
State absolutism received its preeminent early modern statement in the belief that kings are accountable to God alone. But this notion met with differing fates in France and the English-speaking world, with vast implications for freedom.
18.
The Anglo-American Tradition of Liberty
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36.
Freedom and the Lessons of History
Americans enter the 21st century convinced that we are opening a new era of liberty, prosperity, and peace. Europeans entered the last century with similar beliefs. We close with a cautionary note, taking up a theme first sounded in Athens 25 centuries ago.
36.
Freedom and the Lessons of History
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36
Lectures
30
minutes/lecture
1.
Why We Study History
We define the wisdom of history as the ability to think historically, that is, to use the lessons of the past to make decisions in the present, and to plan for the future—as Winston Churchill did in preparing for and executing his destiny as a statesman.
1.
Why We Study History
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19.
The Ottoman Empire and Turkey
Mustapha Kemal, known to history as Ataturk, is the most remarkable and successful statesman produced by the modern Middle East. His creation of a unified Turkey built on a foundation of secularism and ethnic nationalism is a most instructive example of how to create a nation-state in the Middle East that is based on European political and cultural values.
19.
The Ottoman Empire and Turkey
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2.
World War I and the Lessons of History
This lecture asks why the last century—unequalled in advancements in technology, science, education, and knowledge—is also unequalled in the destructiveness of its wars, the scale of its human suffering, and the savagery of its tyrannies.
2.
World War I and the Lessons of History
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20.
The Spanish Empire and Latin America
Despite its proximity to the United States, its vast resources, and its industrious population, Latin America has never developed enduring institutions of democracy. Instead, it has often given us examples of civil war and despotism. The history of Latin America shakes the assumption that democracy in one country will spread to neighboring countries.
20.
The Spanish Empire and Latin America
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3.
Hitler's Rise and the Lessons of History
Churchill called World War II "the unnecessary war." The existence of Adolf Hitler is a pre-eminent example of the lessons history tries to teach us. This lecture looks at how the failure of Woodrow Wilson and the generation of politicians after World War I demonstrate the consequences of ignoring those lessons.
3.
Hitler's Rise and the Lessons of History
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21.
Napoleon's Liberal Empire
Napoleon saw himself as a combination of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, but his attempts to transform Europe as a benevolent despot failed. His career attests to both the enduring lesson of hybris and the danger of pre-emptive wars in the name of liberal and democratic ideals.
21.
Napoleon's Liberal Empire
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4.
World War II and the Lessons of History
Winston Churchill understood that Stalin was a tyrant as evil as Hitler, and that Communism was as evil as National Socialism. But as he attempted to heed history's lessons and prevent the Allies from repeating and compounding the mistakes made after World War I, his warnings were ignored.
4.
World War II and the Lessons of History
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22.
The British Empire in India
The British believed they were combining liberty and empire, but, for many of their subjects, Britain was simply an example of the lust for power as a motivating force of history. The British experience in India illustrated the power of other forces—ideas and religion—to shape history. Who could have imagined a frail Indian barrister could, without violence, bring such an empire to its knees?
22.
The British Empire in India
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5.
Is Freedom a Universal Value?
Freedom consists of three separate ideals. Those ideals—national, political, and individual—of freedom have achieved a unique balance in the United States, the result of a likewise unique confluence of historical currents. But history teaches that such a balance is not universal, and that failure to understand this lesson can have dire consequences.
5.
Is Freedom a Universal Value?
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23.
Russia and Empire
In both 20th-century Russia and China, democratic revolutions would end in savage tyrannies. The wisdom of history teaches us that this is not an accident, but the predictable result of the historical development of both countries.
23.
Russia and Empire
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6.
Birth of Civilization in the Middle East
America's foreign policy has long been based on the belief that freedom is a universal value. But the history of what is now known as the Middle East shows that nations, like individuals, frequently choose the perceived security of despotism to the responsibilities of freedom, with great civilizations—ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, for example—rising and falling with no concept of freedom.
6.
Birth of Civilization in the Middle East
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24.
China and Empire
Civilization rose in China independently from the birth of civilization in the Middle East. But like the Middle East, China throughout its history has chosen despotism over freedom, with Confucius's notion—of order flowing from above—as an ideal that persists, producing despotism even out of a revolution aimed at establishing democracy.
24.
China and Empire
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7.
The Trojan War and the Middle East
The power vacuum created by the collapse of the Hittite and Egyptian empires led to the most famous war of antiquity, which demonstrates for us that a balance of power is a fragile and dangerous mechanism for maintaining peace.
7.
The Trojan War and the Middle East
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25.
The Empire of Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan is one of history's bloodiest conquerors, yet modern historians see him as a statesman who brought a new era of achievement to regions he conquered. His life and legacy teach the lesson of the lust for power—and its ambiguous consequences.
25.
The Empire of Genghis Khan
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8.
Ancient Israel and the Middle East
The Old Testament, our earliest example of historical writing, has in the book of Samuel profound lessons for us today. The story of King David teaches that there is a profound moral dimension to history and that private and public morality cannot be separated.
8.
Ancient Israel and the Middle East
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26.
Britain's Legacy of Freedom
This lecture considers the heritage of freedom that developed in England and was passed on to America, where it merged with four other crucial historical currents of freedom—the Old Testament, Greece and Rome, Christianity, and the U.S. frontier.
26.
Britain's Legacy of Freedom
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9.
Ancient Greece and the Middle East
Herodotus composed his Histories of the war between Persia and Greece in an effort to explain the ways of the gods to men, seeking to understand through history and its moral dimensions why nations rise and fall. He found his explanation in the concept of hybris, the outrageous abuse of power that leads nations and individuals to disaster.
9.
Ancient Greece and the Middle East
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27.
George Washington as Statesman
Since Herodotus and Thucydides, the question has been asked: In a time of crisis, can a democracy bring forth leaders superior to those produced by autocracy? The short answer is "yes," as is the longer one, with this lecture offering the first of two examples from our nation's history.
27.
George Washington as Statesman
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10.
Athenian Democracy and Empire
Athenian democracy rested on values fundamentally identical to American democracy. It teaches us that empire and democratic freedom are compatible, that democracies do not necessarily make peaceful neighbors, and that wars undertaken to spread democratic values can end in defeat and disaster.
10.
Athenian Democracy and Empire
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28.
Thomas Jefferson as Statesman
Napoleon believed himself destined to establish a new Roman Empire, but it was his democratic contemporary, a man of far different moral character, whose decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory created an empire far larger, more enduring, and more noble than anything Napoleon imagined.
28.
Thomas Jefferson as Statesman
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11.
The Destiny of the Athenian Democracy
America shares with ancient Athens a fundamental conviction that it is the duty of the strong to come to the aid of the weak, with corollary beliefs in pre-emptive war, often with the expectation of being welcomed as a liberator. The experiences of ancient Athens suggest that these are dangerous delusions.
11.
The Destiny of the Athenian Democracy
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29.
America's Empire of Liberty—Lewis and Clark
Americans are reluctant to describe this country as an empire, but the United States is one of the most successful imperial nations in history. This lecture explores the consequences of Jefferson's foresight in not only accomplishing the Louisiana Purchase—the largest expansion of territory ever made by purchase and negotiation—but in choosing the ideal men to lead the expedition to explore those new lands.
29.
America's Empire of Liberty—Lewis and Clark
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12.
Alexander the Great and the Middle East
Alexander was uniquely successful in his ability to solve the problem of the Middle East. He ruled not by imposing Greek ideals but by becoming a Middle Easterner, accepting the ethnic and religious diversity of the Middle East and its long tradition of absolute rule.
12.
Alexander the Great and the Middle East
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30.
America and Slavery
The United States was founded in the self-evident truth that "all men are created equal." However, slavery was recognized by the Constitution as the law of the land. Ultimately, only the Civil War could resolve Americans' understanding of the fundamental meaning of freedom.
30.
America and Slavery
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13.
The Roman Republic as Superpower
History teaches that it is very difficult to be a superpower with a constitution designed for a small city-state. Rome was ultimately forced to choose whether to keep the freedoms of a republic or to remain a superpower. Its choice determined the future politics of Europe and the Middle East to this day.
13.
The Roman Republic as Superpower
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31.
Abraham Lincoln as Statesman
At the beginning of the Civil War, many in Europe and America believed that the decay of democracy was embodied in the choice of a backwoods solicitor to guide his nation. Instead, Lincoln's presidency provided the ultimate testimony to the ability of democracy to produce leaders in a time of crisis.
31.
Abraham Lincoln as Statesman
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14.
Rome of the Caesars as Superpower
The Roman Empire did far more than the Roman Republic to advance the cause of individual freedom. It offered a model of how to achieve peace and prosperity over a large geographical area while securing individual rights, ethnic autonomy, and local political freedom.
14.
Rome of the Caesars as Superpower
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32.
The United States and Empire
With the end of the Civil War, the once-more-United States entered the stage of world politics, making it clear to the powers of Europe that this young nation, despite its recent internal conflicts, was not going to fade away. But as America began its appearance on that stage, could it reconcile its values as a democracy with its actions as a superpower?
32.
The United States and Empire
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15.
Rome and the Middle East
The Middle East supplies a key to understanding the history of Rome. Rome's attempts to bring stability, peace, and Roman political values to Judea illustrate why the Romans found a solution to the problems of the Middle East so intractable.
15.
Rome and the Middle East
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33.
Franklin Roosevelt as Statesman
During World War II, the rule of totalitarian governments extended from Spain to Vladivostok. Yet democracy was able to triumph. As was the case with Britain and Winston Churchill, the United States was able to produce, in Franklin Roosevelt, a wartime leader with few equals in history.
33.
Franklin Roosevelt as Statesman
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16.
Why the Roman Empire Fell
Since the time Rome was declining and falling, historians, moralists, and countless others have tried to explain why. In addition to threats from Germanic tribes, much of the explanation lies in Rome's involvement in the Middle East and the cycle of nation building, annexation, and terrorism that followed. Failure to solve these problems reduced the Roman Empire to a relic.
16.
Why the Roman Empire Fell
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34.
A Superpower at the Crossroads
Harry Truman believed that America was chosen to bring freedom to the world and that to achieve this, America must be a superpower. In the process, the United States entered into the legacy of the empires of Europe and Asia—in the Middle East, Indo-China, and Korea. The consequences are still with us.
34.
A Superpower at the Crossroads
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17.
Christianity
In an important fashion, Christianity was a triumph of the religious values of the Middle East over the traditions of Greece and Rome. The rise of Christianity and Islam, within the context of the Roman Empire, illustrates the power of religion as a motivating force in history.
17.
Christianity
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35.
The Wisdom of History and the Citizen
The wisdom of history has lessons for each of us, both as citizens and as private individuals. The Founders of our country were successful as statesmen because they thought historically and understood that history is the most important discipline for citizens of a free republic.
35.
The Wisdom of History and the Citizen
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18.
Islam
Christianity and Islam have much in common. Yet from the beginning of Islam in the 7th century they have been locked in conflict. The Byzantine Empire and the Crusades demonstrate enduring lessons about the Middle East as the graveyard of empires.
18.
Islam
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36.
The Wisdom of History and You
We look at what each one of us in our personal lives can take away from history—which can be described without trivialization as one great self-help book, more valuable than all the guides that fill the shelves in airport bookstores—and discover perhaps its greatest lesson.
36.
The Wisdom of History and You
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