Free Republic

The Brasher Doubloon, the first gold coin struck in the U.S., is being offered privately at a $15 million asking price, according to numismatic adviser Jeff Sherid. His firm, Los Angeles-based PCAG Inc., is marketing the coin on behalf of a collector he would only identify as a former Wall Street executive. What is a gold coin worth today? The doubloon is dated 1787 — 11 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, the same year the Constitution was written and five years before the federal mint opened in Philadelphia. Metalsmith Ephraim Brasher, George Washington’s next-door neighbor on New...

Over the past decade, left-leaning opinion makers have been at war against the U.S. Constitution and our Founders. The nomination of originalist judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court has provoked renewal of the onslaught. The assault takes several forms, which are discussed below. First, however, let’s see what triggered it.The Constitution limits and distributes political power. American “progressives” almost universally favor a very powerful central government so most do not think highly of the Constitution. Throughout the 20th Century, however, they generally avoided direct criticism. Instead, they contended that the Constitution authorizes, or even mandates, their political agenda.A good...

Presidential Elections. Little over a week before the close of the federal convention, the senate was still responsible for appointing a president should no one obtain a majority, or if two with a majority had an equal number, of electoral votes. While their electoral college system minimized the possibility of “pre-bought” presidents, our Framers nonetheless cast a suspicious eye at the senate. The convention intended a ‘high-toned’ second branch to check the house, but had they gone too far? Their senate had the power to appoint the president, name his officers, appoint judges, make treaties and try impeachments. This constituted...

Too many people believe that slavery is a "peculiar institution." That's what Kenneth Stampp called slavery in his book, "Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South." But slavery is by no means peculiar, odd or unusual. It was common among ancient peoples such as the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites, Greeks, Persians, Armenians and many others. Large numbers of Christians were enslaved during the Ottoman wars in Europe. White slaves were common in Europe from the Dark Ages to the Middle Ages. It was only after A.D. 1600 that Europeans joined with Arabs and Africans and started the Atlantic slave trade....

Aaron Houston for The New York Times The 1787 letter from George Washington, beneath his image in a scrapbook begun in 1826. Aaron Houston for The New York TimesBill Schroh, director of operations at the Liberty Hall Museum, looking at the Washington letter. UNION, N.J., April 26 — The letter from George Washington is pasted between poetry and party invitations, stuffed into a dusty scrapbook amid jokes and cutouts of handsome men, and all the highlights of a lucky little girl’s life. It was written in May 1787 and addressed to Jacob Morris, grandfather of Julia Kean, the precocious...

Forty-six years.That’s how long William Wilberforce labored to see the end of slavery in the British Empire. His work began in earnest in 1787 when he first came into contact with abolitionists such as Thomas Clarkson, Hannah More and Charles Middleton. These activists found a kindred spirit in Wilberforce, whose conversion to the Christian faith had given birth to an abiding concern for social reform—so much so, in fact, that he wrote in his diary, “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.”The dark and dehumanizing practice of slavery weighed heavy on him. He first...

Editor's Note: This column was coauthored by Bob Morrison. President Obama's choice to be Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) was approved by the Senate on a vote of 63-34, with thirteen Republicans voting to confirm him. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) created quite a stir with his 13-hour filibuster against the Brennan nomination. Not until he received written assurances from Attorney General Eric Holder that U.S. citizens would not be targeted for killing by drones on U.S. soil would the doughty Kentuckian stand down. Good for him. John Brennan then proceeded to take the Oath of Office, as administered by Vice...

Third Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Jonesboro, Illinois September 15, 1858 MR. DOUGLAS' SPEECH. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I appear before you today in pursuance of a previous notice, and have made arrangements with Mr. Lincoln to divide time, and discuss with him the leading political topics that now agitate the country. Prior to 1854 this country was divided into two great political parties known as Whig and Democratic. These parties differed from each other on certain questions which were then deemed to be important to the best interests of the Republic. Whig and Democrats differed about a bank, the...

Happy Birthday, Constitution Day!Today is Tuesday, Sept. 17, the 260th day of 2002. There are 105 days left in the year.Today's Highlight in History: On Sept. 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the constitutional convention in Philadelphia. In 1920, the American Professional Football Association - a precursor of the National Football League - was formed in Canton, Ohio. Today's Birthdays (other than ConstitutionDay's): Actor David Huddleston is 72. Actress Anne Bancroft is 71. Actress Dorothy Loudon is 69. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, is 69. Actor Paul Benedict...