I Am, As of Today, Thoroughly Enthralled With American History

By Daniel Miessler on July 4th, 2008: Tagged as America

I feel a surge of energy right now — a sense of excitement. The feeling comes from realizing how little I actually know about our country. Everything I know about our current political struggle exists in something of a historical vacuum, devoid of historical context.

It’s repugnant, really.

Well, perhaps not quite that bad, but close. History has just become fascinating to me. It’s the knowledge that supports well-vetted positions. It’s the foundation on which to build solid arguments.

History is to political ideas as experimental data is to a physics experiment. Without this data it’s impossible to temper fledgling ideas into something that can withstand the heat of debate.

So, this is my declaration of war against ignorance of our country. Here is a short list of people/concepts that I intend to become extremely familiar with:

  • The Constitution
  • The Bill of Rights
  • The Federalist Papers
  • Thomas Jefferson
  • George Washington
  • Alexander Hamilton
  • Aaron Burr
  • The Federalists
  • The Anti-Federalists
  • The Democratic-Republicans

If you are well-versed in political science and would like to help with my education I would be ever so thankful.

Also, I’d like to explicitly thank my friend Brooks Garrett (http://brooksgarrett.com/) for helping me on this path of discovery. If it weren’t for our discussions on gun law I might not have stumbled onto this line of thought for some time.

  • http://anthonyvance.com/ Tony

    This is something I would like to study in depth as well. I started reading the Federalist Papers a couple years ago, but left off reading them. I’ll have to begin again because they were very enlightening.

    I can, however, recommend 1776 by David McCullough. It is well regarded and made me appreciate the struggle of the revolutionary war much more. Audible has a good unabridged version read by the author.

  • http://anthonyvance.com/ Tony

    This is something I would like to study in depth as well. I started reading the Federalist Papers a couple years ago, but left off reading them. I’ll have to begin again because they were very enlightening.

    I can, however, recommend 1776 by David McCullough. It is well regarded and made me appreciate the struggle of the revolutionary war much more. Audible has a good unabridged version read by the author.

  • http://anthonyvance.com Tony

    This is something I would like to study in depth as well. I started reading the Federalist Papers a couple years ago, but left off reading them. I’ll have to begin again because they were very enlightening.

    I can, however, recommend 1776 by David McCullough. It is well regarded and made me appreciate the struggle of the revolutionary war much more. Audible has a good unabridged version read by the author.

  • http://jonsnetwork.com/ Jon Robinson

    nice. don’t forget the anti-federalists. the guys that thought the constitution created a leviathan. http://mises.org/story/2335

  • http://jonsnetwork.com Jon Robinson

    nice. don’t forget the anti-federalists. the guys that thought the constitution created a leviathan. http://mises.org/story/2335

  • http://blog.nicholascloud.com/ ncloud

    Daniel that’s an awesome endeavor! I would recommend “The Making of America” by W. Cleon Skousen — it’s a clause-by-clause exposition of the Constitution with in-depth quotes from the founding fathers. I would also recommend “The Founders’ Constitution”, a 6-volume set you can get on Amazon (for pretty cheap actually) that contains a ton of good source material.

  • http://blog.nicholascloud.com/ ncloud

    Daniel that’s an awesome endeavor! I would recommend “The Making of America” by W. Cleon Skousen — it’s a clause-by-clause exposition of the Constitution with in-depth quotes from the founding fathers. I would also recommend “The Founders’ Constitution”, a 6-volume set you can get on Amazon (for pretty cheap actually) that contains a ton of good source material.

  • http://blog.nicholascloud.com ncloud

    Daniel that’s an awesome endeavor! I would recommend “The Making of America” by W. Cleon Skousen — it’s a clause-by-clause exposition of the Constitution with in-depth quotes from the founding fathers. I would also recommend “The Founders’ Constitution”, a 6-volume set you can get on Amazon (for pretty cheap actually) that contains a ton of good source material.

  • http://maxolasersquad.com/ Maxo

    You absolutely mus read The People’s History of the United States. I really just cannot stress how important reading this book is to understanding US history as of the introduction of the Europeans.

  • http://maxolasersquad.com/ Maxo

    You absolutely mus read The People’s History of the United States. I really just cannot stress how important reading this book is to understanding US history as of the introduction of the Europeans.

  • http://maxolasersquad.com/ Maxo

    You absolutely mus read The People’s History of the United States. I really just cannot stress how important reading this book is to understanding US history as of the introduction of the Europeans.

  • http://brooksgarrett.myopenid.com/ Brooks Garrett

    Thanks for the link!

  • http://brooksgarrett.myopenid.com/ Brooks Garrett

    Thanks for the link!

  • Mark Harris

    So, you’ve been waving the 2nd amendment round without actually knowing how and why it came to be, huh? (J/K)

    Read Gore Vidal’s essays as well. He examines a lot of ‘commonly held beliefs” over the last 50 or so years and the historical background to them.

  • Mark Harris

    So, you’ve been waving the 2nd amendment round without actually knowing how and why it came to be, huh? (J/K)

    Read Gore Vidal’s essays as well. He examines a lot of ‘commonly held beliefs” over the last 50 or so years and the historical background to them.


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