1776 Commission reports

The United States will not survive without a true understanding of its founding. President Trump appointed a commission chaired by Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn with members including Charles Kesler, Matthew Spalding, and Victor Davis Hanson to advance such an understanding. Other members of the commission and contributors to the preparation of the report are set forth on page 41.

The commission released its report yesterday. I have embedded it below.

In its statement the White House describes the report as “presenting a definitive chronicle of the American founding, a powerful description of the effect the principles of the Declaration of Independence have had on this Nation’s history, and a dispositive rebuttal of reckless ‘re-education’ attempts that seek to reframe American history around the idea that the United States is not an exceptional country but an evil one.”

That reference to “reckless ‘re-education” certainly includes first among others The 1619 Project advanced by the New York Times and infiltrating our schools across the land. The report is a dagger aimed at the heart of the The 1619 Project.

With its customary accuracy and fine-tuning, the Times takes up the commission’s handiwork in a story headlined “Trump’s ‘1776 report’ defends America’s founding on the basis of slavery and blasts progressivism.” As if that were not enough, the Times adds “Trump’s 1776 Commission Critiques Liberalism in Report Derided by Historians.” CNN outdoes the Times in “Trump administration issues racist school curriculum report on MLK day.” Now that is bad, not sad.

STEVE adds—Here’s the headline for CNN’s coverage of the report:

UPDATE: One of our most highly regarded professor friends comments for public consumption under cover of anonymity: “The Times also claimed there were no historians on the commission. Victor Davis Hanson is what? They are also riled up about the association of progressivism and fascism. They might want to revisit TDS writer Jonah Goldberg and Liberal Fascism.”

Final Report by Scott Johnson on Scribd

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