by Michael Williams
 
Americans live in uniquely challenging times in that many of our leaders, be they politicians, academics, or the mainstream media, are actively undermining the ideas of a free and prosperous society. The latest example comes from none other than The New York Times in their 1619 Project. The 1619 Project “aims to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding” since this, according to the project, is when slavery first began on the continent. Take those words in again: “true founding”. Never mind that the pilgrims arrived in North America about that same time to escape religious persecution or that capitalists settled Jamestown over a decade earlier in 1607…and that both settlements began without slavery. Never mind that the Spanish founded St Augustine, FL over 50 years before that in 1565 with slaves and encountered the Timucua, the Native Americans in the area predating the Seminoles, and that both of these indigenous tribes practiced slavery prior to any contact with Europeans. Without the proper perspective, any of these dates and times could be mistakenly designated a “founding”.

Never mind that the Declaration of Independence, which is the true foundation of the nation, explicitly rejected the institution of slavery and provided the words and moral certitude to end the practice.

The LPR community is fortunate to have a more rational and balanced understanding of history and the timeless principles upon which the US was founded. Our own Dr. Thomas Krannawitter at SpeakEasyIdeas is an expert on the subject of the actual American Founding in July of 1776, and especially how it relates to the crucial issue of slavery. In the following essay, Tom exposes the 1619 Project for what it really is and reminds us of the heroes who founded this country; heroes whose ideas and actions ended the abhorrent institution of human slavery, which had existed all over the world in most cultures, prior to the Americans.

In this time of polarization and vitriol, it is extremely important that the NYT project be revealed, deliberated and corrected. Our society needs neither false unity nor such deviously perpetrated conflict, but instead a clear-eyed look at history and the ideas that move it, along with an ideology rooted in individual rights for all. Please help us spread Tom’s essay near and far – our freedom and civility depend upon our fellow citizens having at least an exposure to such timeless ideas.