**Previously recorded by Phyllis Schlafly**
It’s amazing the way an old book published nearly 30 years ago, has made it to the top of Amazon.com’s best sellers. It’s called The 5000 Year Leap, written by the late W. Cleon Skousen. Its modem appeal is that it sets forth the Principles of Freedom at a time when many Americans think we are losing our freedom to big government and gigantic debt.
Cleon Skousen’s description of the founding principles of the United States argues that the wisdom of the Framers was “a miracle that changed the world.” It allowed America to flourish and rapidly overtake Europe in wealth and power. Many books have been written on this subject, but The 5000 Year Leap distinguishes itself by its systematic explanation of the Founders’ Political philosophy.
In 1607 a small group of ragtag Englishmen founded Jamestown. They were very much like settlements in other parts of the world 5,000 years earlier. Very little progress was made by man during all those 50 centuries.
But 200 years later, America’s experiment in freedom had helped launch free-market economics, leading to stupendous scientific achievements and enhanced quality of life for almost everyone. The American system has an impressive track record.
The Founders’ problem was how to avoid setting up another tyranny in place of the one they had shaken off. The solution was to separate the powers of government into three branches. The Founders also believed that freedom cannot be maintained without religion because the latter is the surest guard of virtue. When the Founders separated church and state they weren’t trying to take religion out of public life; they just didn’t want one church to take precedence over others. The proper role of government is to protect unalienable rights, not to provide equal things. This book takes the position that America has a manifest destiny to be an example and blessing to mankind.
This post originally appeared at https://phyllisschlafly.com/constitution/how-america-built-a-free-nation/
Ryan Hite