Skip to main content
Tags: Magnet | Thanksgiving | religious | liberty

WSJ Op-Ed: Thanksgiving Is About Liberty

By    |   Wednesday, 27 November 2013 07:24 AM EST

Americans should give thanks for a political culture that cherishes liberty and to their forebears, who came to these shores in search of religious freedom, writes Myron Magnet in The Wall Street Journal.

Magnet, who has authored books on history and social policy and was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President George W. Bush, recalled that since 1621, when the Puritans came to the New World in search of religious freedom, waves of pilgrims in quest of liberty have followed them to these shores.

Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll

It once was illegal under British law for non-Anglican Protestants such as the Pilgrims to worship freely.

Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers, and others who embraced traditions of self-government, individualism, and personal responsibility found haven in America.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay wrote a spellbinding description of how his grandfather, a French Protestant, had to escape from the France of Louis XIV because the civil rights of Protestants were revoked.

"With this long history, Americans have had an almost physical thirst for liberty," said Magnet.

America, wrote James Madison, offered a "Promised Land" of "asylum to the persecuted and oppressed of every Nation and Religion."

The founders understood that human nature had its depraved side. That while "some kind of government armed with power" was needed, the Constitution they crafted in 1787 "explicitly limited government's powers to what they deemed absolutely essential."

Magnet evoked George Washington, who in the first State of the Union address emphasized that the best protection of American values was inculcating a political culture that cultivated independence and a love of liberty.

"The security of a free Constitution," he said, requires "teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own rights; to discern and provide against invasions of them."

Americans should give thanks to be living in the Land of the Free and for the culture of liberty upon which it is rooted, Magnet concluded.

Related Stories:



© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.

US
Americans should give thanks for a political culture that cherishes liberty and to their forebears who came to these shores in search of religious freedom, writes Myron Magnet in The Wall Street Journal.
Magnet,Thanksgiving,religious,liberty
347
2013-24-27
Wednesday, 27 November 2013 07:24 AM
Newsmax Media, Inc.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 

Interest-Based Advertising | Do not sell or share my personal information

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© 2025 Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the Newsmax App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© 2025 Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved