What sets America apart?
Liberty, equality, and all of our liberal democratic ideals are core to who we are as Americans, but they are downstream from what truly differentiated the United States of America from all that had preceded it: As Alexander Hamilton put it in Federalist No. 1, ours was a regime built on “reflection and choice” rather than “accident and force.” That was exceptional, setting in motion a revolution in human affairs that extends beyond our borders and persists to this day.
There’s a reason James Madison studied trunk loads full of books (history, philosophy, political theory) prior to heading to the Philadelphia convention in the summer of 1787. There’s a reason John Adams adhered to a rigorous reading schedule in his early twenties and advised himself: “Let no trifling Diversion or amuzement or Company decoy you from your Books, i.e. let no Girl, no Gun, no Cards, no flutes, no Violins, no Dress, no Tobacco, no Laziness, decoy you from your Books.” There’s a reason Thomas Jefferson once remarked to Adams, “I cannot live without books.”
