Peacemaking Amidst Civil Unrest: Lessons from the Federalists and Antifederalists in the Founding Era

250 years on, the ideological conflict between the Hamiltonians and the Jeffersonians, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, the Centralists and the Decentralists, and the Nationalists and the Localists remains central to the American political experience. Though resolution seems to be as remote as ever, lessons in peacemaking from the Founding Era offer us hope for civility and rapprochement.

George Grant is the Pastor Emeritus of Parish Presbyterian Church and the Founder of Franklin Classical School, the Comenius School, Bannockburn College, and New College Franklin. He is the Director of the King’s Meadow Study Center and the Coordinator of the Chalmers Fund. He is the author of more than eight dozen books in the areas of history, biography, politics, literature, theology, and social criticism and he has written hundreds of essays, articles, and columns. His work on behalf of the homeless, for international relief and development, for racial reconciliation, and for the sanctity of life has been profiled in such varied media outlets as the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Focus on the Family, The 700 Club, the Coral Ridge Hour, Point of View, Crossfire, World Magazine, CrossPolitic, and Christianity Today.  

He served as an assistant to D. James Kennedy at the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and has taught at Knox Theological Seminary, Birmingham Theological Seminary, Erskine Theological Seminary, and New Geneva International Seminary. He has pioneered efforts to establish Classical Christian Schools in the US around the world—particularly in the Muslim world (with several large and thriving schools in Iraq, Egypt, and Indonesia).

His blog, Florilegium, is available on Substack, his linguistic and etymology podcast, Word Play, is heard on World Radio’s The World and Everything in It, and his Christian history podcast, Resistance and Reformation, is available on the Fight, Laugh, Feast network,. Over the years he has led more than fifty educational group tours to England, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Israel, as well as dozens more to historic sites in the United States.

In addition to his pastoral responsibilities and regular classes in history, literature, theology, and the arts, he maintains an active writing and speaking schedule in this country and around the world. He has academic degrees in Political Science at the University of Houston (BA), Philosophy at Whitefield Theological Seminary (MA, M.Div., D.Litt., Ph.D.), Humanities at Belhaven College (D. Hum.), and Theology at Knox Theological Seminary (D.Min.).  He makes his home in Middle Tennessee near the historic town of Franklin with his wife and co-author Karen. Together they have three grown children, one in heaven, and nine grandchildren (and counting).

Some of his recent books include: Foundations of Freedom: A 250 Year Experiment in Liberty; Word Play: Linguistic Worldviewishness; The Last Crusader: A Biography of Christopner Columbus; Carry a Big Stick: A Biography of Theodore Roosevelt; An Experiment in Liberty: America’s Path to Independence, In the Shadow of Plenty: Biblical Principles for the Care of the Poor, Killer Angel: A Biography of Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger; The Importance of the Electoral College; and The American Patriot’s Handbook. These books, innumerable podcasts, a variety curriculum packages, and a host of other resources are available at www.GeorgeGrant.net.

This talk is a part of our Founding Freedoms Lecture Series, that seeks to help Capitol Hill Staff think more deeply about the freedoms bequeathed to this nation – and the religious tenets that undergird them.