[hanamizu]

Off topic, but I think of the Jefferson-Adams story as being inspiring. Friends, fierce political enemies, and at the end of their lives friends again. Both dying on July 4, 1826 with Adams’s last words being “Jefferson lives”. How is it that such a small country back in 1776 was able to produce so many giants?

[elcid1970]

IIRC, Jefferson’s last words were, “Adams lives”.

[loveliberty2]

Could it be that one can account for that breadth and depth of knowledge possessed by America's early generations as having come from being free to inquire and to study the great writings from previous generations--including those from religious sources?

One of the great tragedies of the past 100 years of education in America may very well be the deliberate "erasing" of the ideas of liberty from the libraries, textbooks, classrooms and so-called "public squares."