Why America is Free


Book Description




It's a Free Country


Book Description

A groundbreaking collection of new pieces examining the effects of President George W. Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft's legislative assault on civil liberties following the terrorist bombing of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, with a foreword by Cornel West, author of Race Matters, and original pieces by Michael Moore, Matt Groening, Howard Zinn, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Steve Earle, Tom Hayden, Congressman Jerrold Nadler and many, many more, plus firsthand stories from Middle Eastern and American victims of civil-liberty infringement.




Free Expression and Democracy in America


Book Description

From the 1798 Sedition Act to the war on terror, numerous presidents, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, and local officials have endorsed the silencing of free expression. If the connection between democracy and the freedom of speech is such a vital one, why would so many governmental leaders seek to quiet their citizens? Free Expression and Democracy in America traces two rival traditions in American culture—suppression of speech and dissent as a form of speech—to provide an unparalleled overview of the law, history, and politics of individual rights in the United States. Charting the course of free expression alongside the nation’s political evolution, from the birth of the Constitution to the quagmire of the Vietnam War, Stephen M. Feldman argues that our level of freedom is determined not only by the Supreme Court, but also by cultural, social, and economic forces. Along the way, he pinpoints the struggles of excluded groups—women, African Americans, and laborers—to participate in democratic government as pivotal to the development of free expression. In an age when our freedom of speech is once again at risk, this momentous book will be essential reading for legal historians, political scientists, and history buffs alike.




Independence


Book Description

No event in American history was more pivotal-or more furiously contested-than Congress's decision to declare independence in July 1776. Even months after American blood had been shed at Lexington and Concord, many colonists remained loyal to Britain. John Adams, a leader of the revolutionary effort, said bringing the fractious colonies together was like getting "thirteen clocks to strike at once." Other books have been written about the Declaration, but no author has traced the political journey from protest to Revolution with the narrative scope and flair of John Ferling. Independence takes readers from the cobblestones of Philadelphia into the halls of Parliament, where many sympathized with the Americans and furious debate erupted over how to deal with the rebellion. Independence is not only the story of how freedom was won, but how an empire was lost. At this remarkable moment in history, high-stakes politics was intertwined with a profound debate about democracy, governance, and justice. John Ferling, drawing on a lifetime of scholarship, brings this passionate struggle to life as no other historian could. Independence will be hailed as the finest work yet from the author Michael Beschloss calls "a national resource."




Not Free America


Book Description

Not Free America is a call to all Americans to take back our constitutional freedoms and break free of “our abusive relationship with our government.” Mike Donovan’s groundbreaking work on behalf of personal liberties has made him an object of fascination on both the Right and the Left. In this groundbreaking book, Mike Donovan, the CEO of Nexus Services, calls out the elites who wield power in our country—not only the elites at the federal level, but the elites who exert control over us in our states and counties, our cities and towns. Not Free America is a passionate call to all freedom-loving Americans to take back our constitutional freedoms and break free of what he calls “our abusive relationship with our government.” Donovan details how the “wholesale shredding of the Bill of Rights” started long before the concurrent crises of Covid-19 and the protests and violence that followed the murder of George Floyd. Not Free America shows us how those events were used by forces in our local, state, and federal governments that had systematically been abridging our rights for decades. These rights, Mike reminds us, are God-given rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment. As the pastor of the First Christian Church Universalist in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Mike Donovan is far from your quiet country clergyman. A fierce warrior with the spirit of God and the tough skin of a lawyer, he has dedicated his life to protecting liberty and preserving individual rights, serving the underserved, and ministering to those who are overlooked in our broken society. Indeed, there are aspects to his past and present that make him an easy target for judgment from all directions. But Mike Donovan hides from nothing: He openly embraces the faults of his past and dedicates his present to creating a future that helps others move past their own unfortunate pasts. Born to a poor family in Page County, Virginia, he found himself at a young age convicted of writing bad checks, resulting in multiple felonies for which he served seven months in the county jail. But the time he served didn’t break him; it helped make him the man he is today: a man of the law and a man of God who believes with all his heart and soul in the possibility of redemption and the power of moving beyond past mistakes. He also came out of that experience knowing he needed to make a difference for others who found themselves in the same place he’d just been. Not content to talk the talk, Mike Donovan walks the walk in the footsteps of the Jesus who said “I was in prison and you came to visit me . . . Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.” Not Free America shows us how to do all that for America and for our children. The book ends with “The Liberty Pledge”: an agreement readers will make stating that they will vote only for lawmakers who agree to uphold the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment.




Today's American


Book Description

This timely and important book also assesses the state of freedom in other crucial areas, including religious freedom, immigration, race relations, academic freedom, equality of opportunity, criminal justice, property rights, corruption, and freedom of expression and the press - and does so in historical and comparative context."--BOOK JACKET.




Land of Hope


Book Description

For too long we’ve lacked a compact, inexpensive, authoritative, and compulsively readable book that offers American readers a clear, informative, and inspiring narrative account of their country. Such a fresh retelling of the American story is especially needed today, to shape and deepen young Americans’ sense of the land they inhabit, help them to understand its roots and share in its memories, all the while equipping them for the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship in American society The existing texts simply fail to tell that story with energy and conviction. Too often they reflect a fragmented outlook that fails to convey to American readers the grand trajectory of their own history. This state of affairs cannot continue for long without producing serious consequences. A great nation needs and deserves a great and coherent narrative, as an expression of its own self-understanding and its aspirations; and it needs to be able to convey that narrative to its young effectively. Of course, it goes without saying that such a narrative cannot be a fairy tale of the past. It will not be convincing if it is not truthful. But as Land of Hope brilliantly shows, there is no contradiction between a truthful account of the American past and an inspiring one. Readers of Land of Hope will find both in its pages.




The Power of Free Expression in America (Second Edition)


Book Description

The rights to free speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition are among the most important in a democracy. Without freedom to express one's ideas, democratic values such as the right to criticize government and society become hollow. To protect these freedoms, citizens must understand the roots, of the First Amendment, how it is challenged, and why it is so essential to a free people. The Power of Free Expression in America introduces the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment and explores the historic roots of freedom of expression from John Milton's Areopagitica to current law. It teaches the value of free speech, the role of the press in a free society, and the public's right to know. It defines news, addresses journalism ethics, public trust in the news media, hate speech, media ownership, broadcast regulations, invasion of privacy, and more -- including advice for using the power of free speech effectively. The text includes examples, articles, and court cases to illustrate the First Amendment in action and discuss its power. The second edition features new content that speaks to "fake news," expression in the digital age, and the impact of social media on free speech. Chapters on the Internet, the news, politics and the media, and what the future might hold have been updated to reflect recent developments. The Power of Free Expression in America is ideal for courses in journalism, communication, media studies, history, government, civics, or any course that explores the First Amendment and press in the United States. It is a valuable tool for teachers and students as society wrestles with the evolving role of First Amendment rights in America.




U.S. History


Book Description

U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.




The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America


Book Description

Named one of Newsweek’s "25 Must-Read Fall Fiction and Nonfiction Books to Escape the Chaos of 2020" The critically acclaimed journalist and bestselling author of The Rage of a Privileged Class explores one of the most essential rights in America—free speech—and reveals how it is crumbling under the combined weight of polarization, technology, money and systematized lying in this concise yet powerful and timely book. Free speech has long been one of American's most revered freedoms. Yet now, more than ever, free speech is reshaping America’s social and political landscape even as it is coming under attack. Bestselling author and critically acclaimed journalist Ellis Cose wades into the debate to reveal how this Constitutional right has been coopted by the wealthy and politically corrupt. It is no coincidence that historically huge disparities in income have occurred at times when moneyed interests increasingly control political dialogue. Over the past four years, Donald Trump’s accusations of “fake news,” the free use of negative language against minority groups, “cancel culture,” and blatant xenophobia have caused Americans to question how far First Amendment protections can—and should—go. Cose offers an eye-opening wholly original examination of the state of free speech in America today, litigating ideas that touch on every American’s life. Social media meant to bring us closer, has become a widespread disseminator of false information keeping people of differing opinions and political parties at odds. The nation—and world—watches in shock as white nationalism rises, race and gender-based violence spreads, and voter suppression widens. The problem, Cose makes clear, is that ordinary individuals have virtually no voice at all. He looks at the danger of hyper-partisanship and how the discriminatory structures that determine representation in the Senate and the electoral college threaten the very concept of democracy. He argues that the safeguards built into the Constitution to protect free speech and democracy have instead become instruments of suppression by an unfairly empowered political minority. But we can take our rights back, he reminds us. Analyzing the experiences of other countries, weaving landmark court cases together with a critical look at contemporary applications, and invoking the lessons of history, including the Great Migration, Cose sheds much-needed light on this cornerstone of American culture and offers a clarion call for activism and change.