Countering Contemporary Criticism of America’s Founding Principles

This lecture revisits the founding claim that all people possess equal and unalienable rights. The United States represents an unprecedented achievement: a multi-religious, multi-ethnic nation that has endured for two and a half centuries while expanding freedom, legal equality, and prosperity. Yet the Declaration’s principles face renewed criticism from both the progressive left and the New Right; some argue they obscured slavery or justified cultural domination, while others reject natural rights altogether. Berkowitz will restate the Declaration’s core ideas, address these increasingly prominent critiques, and examine the Declaration’s logic, legacy in American political life, and continuing significance for U.S. policy and global affairs.