Did Adam Smith—celebrated hero of free trade—make a big exception for reasons of national defense? Would he support the Jones ...

Caleb Petitt is a Research Associate for the Independent Institute, where he researches historical political economy, history of economic thought, and trade. He holds a PhD in economics from George ...

Author of The Conductor: The Story of Rev. John Rankin, Abolitionism’s Essential Founding Father. Caleb’s work has been featured in various outlets including RealClear History, the Washington Examiner ...

Author of The Conductor: The Story of Rev. John Rankin, Abolitionism’s Essential Founding Father. Caleb’s work has been featured in various outlets including RealClear History, the Washington Examiner ...

Born in Dandridge, Tennessee, John Rankin was an American Presbyterian minister and abolitionist who moved to Ripley, Ohio in 1822 and became the state’s first and most active “conductor” on the ...

In this excerpt from Letter IX of John Rankin’s Letters on American Slavery, Rankin argues that slavery is incompatible with the American republican ideals shared in the Declaration of Independence.

During a time when enslaved Americans sought freedom through escape, Elizabeth Freeman challenged her legal status as property—and won.

In the Republic, Plato discusses with Adeimantus the benefits of specialization and the division of labor.

Alexis de Tocqueville comments on the Freedom of the Press, explaining why it contributes to peacable societies despite the press’ volatility.

By Levi D. Slamm New York Daily Plebeian, 11 April 1844 The Oregon dispute promises to be one of the most vexed subjects that we have had to settle with Great Britain [,] perhaps not less tangled than ...

Jonathan Fortier talks with Johan Norberg, author of The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World.