The 1776 Commission

by **Admin** Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:00 pm

Admin: Admin; Posts : 270
Join date : 2020-12-18

Post n°1

The 1776 Commission

by Admin Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:00 pm

STATEMENTS & RELEASES

Statement from the Press Secretary

Issued on: December 18, 2020

Today, the President was delighted to welcome the great Americans he intends to appoint to the 1776 Commission. As our nation approaches its 250th anniversary of glorious Independence, many of America’s school children are tragically being taught to hate our founding, hate our history, and hate our country. This must stop. The 1776 Commission will help ensure that every American child learns that they live in the greatest and most exceptional nation in the history of the world. That is why it is absolutely vital to teach America’s young people all that is inspiring and unifying in our history. We want our children to become patriots who love their country. The 1776 Commission will share the story of our nation’s miraculous founding, proclaim the self-evident truths contained in the Declaration of Independence, and explain how these founding principles have helped our people overcome great national challenges throughout our history – and how these principles can guide us to a great American future. All Americans should pay close attention to this work.

Whitehouse.gov

Last edited by Admin on Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:19 pm; edited 1 time in total

by **Admin** Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:02 pm

Admin

Admin: Admin; Posts : 270
Join date : 2020-12-18

Post n°2

Re: The 1776 Commission

by Admin Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:02 pm

EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Executive Order on Establishing the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission

EDUCATION

Issued on: November 2, 2020

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to better enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776, and, through this, form a more perfect Union, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Purpose. The American founding envisioned a political order in harmony with the design of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” seeing the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as embodied in and sanctioned by natural law and its traditions.

The formation of a republic around these principles marked a clear departure from previous forms of government, securing rights through a form of government that derives its legitimate power from the consent of the governed. Throughout its national life, our Republic’s exploration of the full meaning of these principles has led it through the ratification of a Constitution, civil war, the abolition of slavery, Reconstruction, and a series of domestic crises and world conflicts. Those events establish a clear historical record of an exceptional Nation dedicated to the ideas and ideals of its founding.

Against this history, in recent years, a series of polemics grounded in poor scholarship has vilified our Founders and our founding. Despite the virtues and accomplishments of this Nation, many students are now taught in school to hate their own country, and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but rather villains. This radicalized view of American history lacks perspective, obscures virtues, twists motives, ignores or distorts facts, and magnifies flaws, resulting in the truth being concealed and history disfigured. Failing to identify, challenge, and correct this distorted perspective could fray and ultimately erase the bonds that knit our country and culture together.

The recent attacks on our founding have highlighted America’s history related to race. These one-sided and divisive accounts too often ignore or fail to properly honor and recollect the great legacy of the American national experience ‑- our country’s valiant and successful effort to shake off the curse of slavery and to use the lessons of that struggle to guide our work toward equal rights for all citizens in the present. Viewing America as an irredeemably and systemically racist country cannot account for the extraordinary role of the great heroes of the American movement against slavery and for civil rights — a great moral endeavor that, from Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King, Jr., was marked by religious fellowship, good will, generosity of heart, an emphasis on our shared principles, and an inclusive vision for the future.

As these heroes demonstrated, the path to a renewed and confident national unity is through a rediscovery of a shared identity rooted in our founding principles. A loss of national confidence in these principles would place rising generations in jeopardy of a crippling self-doubt that could cause them to abandon faith in the common story that binds us to one another across our differences. Without our common faith in the equal right of every individual American to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, authoritarian visions of government and society could become increasingly alluring alternatives to self-government based on the consent of the people. Thus it is necessary to provide America’s young people access to what is genuinely inspiring and unifying in our history, as well as to the lessons imparted by the American experience of overcoming great national challenges. This is what makes possible the informed and honest patriotism that is essential for a successful republic.

A restoration of American education grounded in the principles of our founding that is accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling must ultimately succeed at the local level. Parents and local school boards must be empowered to achieve greater choice and variety in curriculum at the State and local levels.

The role of the Federal Government is to protect and preserve State and local control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, and personnel of educational institutions, schools, and school systems. Indeed, that is why my Administration rejects the Common Core curriculum and all efforts to have the Federal Government impose a national curriculum or national standards in education.

Vigorous participation in local government has always been America’s laboratory of liberty and a key to what makes us exceptional. The best way to preserve the story of America’s founding principles is to live it in action by local communities reasserting control of how children receive patriotic education in their schools.

Sec. 2. The President’s Advisory 1776 Commission. (a) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education shall establish in the Department of Education the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission (“the 1776 Commission”) to better enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776 and to strive to form a more perfect Union.

(b) The 1776 Commission shall be composed of not more than 20 members, who shall be appointed by the President. Members shall serve for a term of 2 years and shall not be removed except for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance. The 1776 Commission may include individuals from outside the Federal Government with relevant experience or subject-matter expertise. The 1776 Commission shall also include the following ex-officio members or such senior officials as those members may designate:

(i) the Secretary of State;

(ii) the Secretary of Defense;

(iii) the Secretary of the Interior;

(iv) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;

(v) the Secretary of Education;

(vi) the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy; and

(vii) the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs.

(c) The 1776 Commission shall:

(i) produce a report for the President, within 1 year of the date of this order, which shall be publicly disseminated, regarding the core principles of the American founding and how these principles may be understood to further enjoyment of “the blessings of liberty” and to promote our striving “to form a more perfect Union.” The Commission may solicit statements and contributions from intellectual and cultural figures in addition to the views of the Commission members;

(ii) advise and offer recommendations to the President and the United States Semiquincentennial Commission regarding the Federal Government’s plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American Independence and coordinate with relevant external stakeholders on their plans;

(iii) facilitate the development and implementation of a “Presidential 1776 Award” to recognize student knowledge of the American founding, including knowledge about the Founders, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutional Convention, and the great soldiers and battles of the American Revolutionary War;

(iv) advise executive departments and agencies (agencies) with regard to their efforts to ensure patriotic education — meaning the presentation of the history of the American founding and foundational principles, the examination of how the United States has grown closer to those principles throughout its history, and the explanation of why commitment to America’s aspirations is beneficial and justified — is provided to the public at national parks, battlefields, monuments, museums, installations, landmarks, cemeteries, and other places important to the American Revolution and the American founding, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law;

(v) advise agencies on prioritizing the American founding in Federal grants and initiatives, including those described in section 4 of this order, and as appropriate and consistent with applicable law; and

(vi) facilitate, advise upon, and promote other activities to support public knowledge and patriotic education on the American Revolution and the American founding, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.

(d) The 1776 Commission shall have a Chair and Vice Chair, designated by the President from among its members. An Executive Director, designated by the Secretary of Education in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, shall coordinate the work of the 1776 Commission. The Chair and Vice Chair shall work with the Executive Director to convene regular meetings of the 1776 Commission, determine its agenda, and direct its work, consistent with this order.

(e) The Department of Education shall provide funding and administrative support for the 1776 Commission, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(f) Members of the 1776 Commission shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in the Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707).

(g) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), may apply to the 1776 Commission, any functions of the President under that Act, except that of reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the Secretary of Education, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Administrator of General Services.

(h) The 1776 Commission shall terminate 2 years from the date of this order, unless extended by the President.

Sec. 3. Celebration of Constitution Day. All relevant agencies shall monitor compliance with Title I of Division J of Public Law 108-447, which provides that “each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution,” including by verifying compliance with each educational institution that receives Federal funds. All relevant agencies shall take action, as appropriate, to enhance compliance with that law.

Sec. 4. Prioritize the American Founding in Available Federal Resources. The following agencies shall prioritize Federal resources, consistent with applicable law, to promote patriotic education:

(a) the Department of Education, through the American History and Civics Academies and American History and Civics Education-National Activities;

(b) the Department of Defense, through the Pilot Program on Enhanced Civics Education; and

(c) the Department of State, through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and through opportunities in the Fulbright, U.S. Speakers, and International Visitors Leadership programs, as well as in American Spaces.

Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,
November 2, 2020.

WhiteHouse.gov

Last edited by Admin on Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

by **Admin** Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:05 pm

Admin

Admin: Admin; Posts : 270
Join date : 2020-12-18

Post n°3

Re: The 1776 Commission

by Admin Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:05 pm

Trump signs executive order establishing 1776 Commission

by Tyler Van Dyke, Breaking News Reporter | | November 02, 2020 03:41 PM

President Trump on Monday signed an executive order establishing the 1776 Commission.

"Just signed an order to establish the 1776 Commission," Trump tweeted. "We will stop the radical indoctrination of our students, and restore PATRIOTIC EDUCATION to our schools!"

He signed the order just one day before Election Day.

Trump first announced plans to establish the commission in September during a speech at the White House Conference on American History. In his speech, Trump denounced critical race theory and its inclusion in federal diversity training programs. He also called the New York Times’s 1619 Project on slavery “toxic propaganda.”

“Critical race theory, the 1619 Project, and the crusade against American history is toxic propaganda — an ideological poison that, if not removed, will dissolve the civic bonds that tie us together,” he said.

Earlier that month, Trump said the Education Department would investigate schools that incorporate the 1619 Project, which argues that the roots of the founding of the United States began the year the first slaves were sold to British colonists rather than 1776, the year the U.S. declared independence.

The stated goal of the commission is "to better enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776, and, through this, form a more perfect Union, it is hereby ordered as follows," according to the order.

"In recent years, a series of polemics grounded in poor scholarship has vilified our Founders and our founding," the order continued. "Despite the virtues and accomplishments of this Nation, many students are now taught in school to hate their own country, and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but rather villains."

The commission will be established within the Education Department. Its members will be appointed by the president. The commission is charged with identifying "the core principles of the American founding and how these principles may be understood," and it will work in conjunction with the government's "plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American Independence."

The commission is designed to "promote patriotic education" but emphasizes that enacting the commission's recommendations will require "local communities reasserting control of how children receive patriotic education in their schools" instead of mandates from the commission.

The commission is scheduled to expire after two years.

Link to Article

Last edited by Admin on Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

by **Admin** Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:09 pm

Admin

Admin: Admin; Posts : 270
Join date : 2020-12-18

Post n°4

Re: The 1776 Commission

by Admin Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:09 pm

PROCLAMATIONS

Proclamation on the Birthday of Founding Father Caesar Rodney
Issued on: October 6, 2020

Today is the 292nd birthday of Founding Father Caesar Rodney. Rodney was a soldier, a sheriff, a justice on the Delaware Supreme Court, a delegate from Delaware to the Continental Congress, a Brigadier General in the Continental Army, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He is an American legend.

Rodney rode into American history when, despite suffering from cancer and asthma, he traveled 80 miles overnight from Dover to Philadelphia through a raging thunderstorm in time to cast Delaware’s deciding vote for independence on July 2, 1776. His heroic act helped ensure that the Declaration of Independence would be passed unanimously. Upon entering Independence Hall, Rodney is said to have uttered these words: “As I believe the voice of my constituents and all sensible and honest men is in favor of independence, and as my own judgment concurs with them, I give my vote for independence.”

Rodney was not just a Founding Father, he was a fighter for American freedom, serving under the command of General George Washington at Trenton during the Revolution. Washington bestowed his “sincerest thanks” for Rodney’s service, commending his character as deserving of the “highest honor” and describing his devotion to the American cause as “the most distinguished.”

After the Revolution, Rodney continued to fight through cancer and serve the State of Delaware as Speaker of the Upper House of its General Assembly. As the years went by, Rodney’s cancer grew worse. Finally, he became so weak that he could not travel to participate in the legislative session. But Rodney’s presence was so significant and his statesmanship was so revered by his fellow colleagues that they would not proceed without him and voted to meet at Rodney’s own home so that he could still lead them from his bed.

For more than two centuries, Delaware honored the patriotism and sacrifice of Caesar Rodney. In 1934, Delaware donated a statue of Caesar Rodney holding the Declaration of Independence to the United States Capitol. In 1976, the State issued a postage stamp commemorating Caesar Rodney to celebrate the bicentennial, and the Delaware Bicentennial Commission published an entire history of Rodney’s life, proclaiming him “Delaware’s hero for all times and all seasons,” “the patron saint of his native state,” and “Delaware’s principal hero of the American Revolutionary War.” The 1999 State Quarter of Delaware bears Caesar Rodney’s image. At the University of Delaware, students live in Caesar Rodney Residence Hall. Boy Scouts in Delaware travel the historic Caesar Rodney Trail. Each year, Delaware residents participate in the Caesar Rodney Half Marathon and 5K. In Camden, both the High School and School District are named after Caesar Rodney, and one can drive down Caesar Rodney Avenue.

Even the Federal Government has taken action to preserve the memory of Caesar Rodney and honor the history of Rodney’s ride for independence. In 2013, President Obama designated the First State National Monument in Delaware, which protected as an object of “historic interest” the very assembly room where Caesar Rodney introduced a bill to prohibit the importation of slaves into Delaware and where Rodney presided as Speaker when the Delaware Assembly declared independence from the British Crown in 1776. At the First State National Monument, park officials tell the story of Caesar Rodney’s 18-hour ride through severe storms to vote for the Declaration of Independence.

But today, the memory and remarkable history of Caesar Rodney’s midnight ride is at risk of being erased forever. In the center of downtown Wilmington, Delaware is Rodney Square, named after Caesar Rodney. Until recently, a majestic equestrian statue of Caesar Rodney riding to Philadelphia had stood there for nearly a century. In 2011, Rodney Square and the Caesar Rodney Equestrian Statue were placed on the National Register of Historic Places after the State of Delaware nominated them for the honor. The nomination notes that, at the time of its design, the Caesar Rodney Equestrian Statue was “considered by many sculptors to be one of the most beautiful equestrian statues in the world.” But, on June 12, 2020, the Caesar Rodney Equestrian Statue was removed as part of an ongoing, radical purge of America’s founding generation.

The empty pedestal in Rodney Square in Wilmington is the end result of an extreme anti-American historical revisionism propagated by organizations like the New York Times and its 1619 Project, critical race theorists on college campuses, cancel culture adherents in corporate boardrooms, and flag-burning mobs on city streets who seek to reframe our Nation’s history around the idea that the United States is not an exceptional country but an evil one. Caesar Rodney is an early casualty of these reckless “re-education” attempts that, if allowed to progress, will erase the names of every one of the heroes of 1776 from American memory and blot out their noble legacy from the history books. The students of Howard Zinn and the 1619 Project have already pledged to remove the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument next. If Caesar Rodney cannot be defended, then there is no principle by which the other signers of the Declaration can be shielded from similar eradication.

Radicals will continue their efforts to tear down our Founding Fathers until Americans demand that it stop and demand that the truth of American history be once again taught in our schools. That is why, on Constitution Day, I announced the creation of a new national commission to promote patriotic education. The “1776 Commission” will champion efforts to teach the truth about America’s heroic founding and make plans to honor the 250th anniversary of the American founding.

At the White House Conference on American History, I also announced that a statue of Caesar Rodney would be added to the National Garden of American Heroes, a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans who have ever lived. As I said this past Constitution Day, “America will give this Founding Father, this very brave man, who was so horribly treated, the place of honor he deserves.”

Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of a patriot who rode as hard and as fast as he could to pledge his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor to the cause of American Independence and American Freedom. On Caesar Rodney’s 292nd birthday, I proclaim that his name will never be forgotten or removed from the record of history and his heroic ride for independence will be honored, preserved, and remembered for centuries to come.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 7, 2020, as the 292nd Anniversary of the birth of Caesar Rodney. I invite the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches and customary places of meeting with appropriate ceremonies in commemoration of the birth of Caesar Rodney.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.

DONALD J. TRUMP

Whitehouse.gov

by **Admin** Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:58 pm

Admin

Admin: Admin; Posts : 270
Join date : 2020-12-18

Post n°5

Re: The 1776 Commission

by Admin Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:58 pm

President Trump Names Dr. Carol Swain Vice Chairman of 1776 Commission

President Donald Trump announced the appointees for the 1776 Commission on Friday, an advisory group to the President on America’s founding principles. The 1776 Commission was formed last month, one day before the election, for the purpose of restoring an accurate understanding of the nation’s founding and history.

The commission will ensure compliance with the celebration of Constitution Day as required by law for all federally-funded educational institutions, and ensure that the departments of education, defense, and state prioritize federal resources in support of the American founding. The commission’s duties also include producing a report on the country’s core, founding principles and their perennial application in the Union; advising and aiding the president and the Semiquincentennial Commission on the 250th-anniversary celebration of America’s founding; developing and implementing an award for students accurately versed in the founding; and generally advising or supporting agencies, public initiatives, and public knowledge as they pertain to the American founding.

The committee’s chair will be Dr. Larry P. Arnn, the sitting president of Hillsdale College in Michigan. Hillsdale College’s Van Andel Graduate School of Government Dean, Dr. Matthew Spalding, was also appointed to the commission. Spalding issued a statement on behalf of the two appointments.

“The 1776 Commission was formed to advise the President about the core principles of the American founding and how to protect those principles by promoting patriotic education,” stated Spalding in a press release shared with The Tennessee Star. “The path to a renewed and confident national unity is through a rediscovery of our shared identity rooted in those principles. It is an honor to be entrusted to direct the Commission.”

The commission’s vice chairwoman will be Dr. Carol Swain: acclaimed conservative spokeswoman, author, and scholar. Swain told The Star that their commission hopes to publish their report on the American founding together by the end of January.

Swain expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve the nation.

“I’m deeply honored that I was appointed to the commission. I think the work of educating America’s youth about the nation’s founding is critically important because there’s such a lack of historical knowledge – not just among young people, but older communities as well,” stated Swain. “It’s essential that the citizens know how their nation was founded, the principles that motivated the founding fathers, and how those principles have influenced the nation since 1776. Part of what we’re focusing on in the commission are those high ideals associated with the declaration that have influenced the American Constitution as well as the Civil Rights laws and various events thereafter.”

Swain shared with The Star that the 1776 Commission’s aim is to restore widespread appreciation for the American founding.

“The commission is really important for us and the President because the President cares deeply about America,” said Swain. “We should all care about our citizens being educated about the nation’s founding, so they will not be misled by false narratives.”

General members on the committee will include:

acting director of the U.S. Domestic Policy Council, Brooke Rollins;
Deputy Assistant to the President, Vincent Haley;
conservative pundit and author Victor Davis Hanson;
previous Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant;
Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez;
conservative commentator John Gibbs;
Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy;
Republican activist Gay Hart Gaines;
American Majority founder and CEO Ned Ryun;
Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk;
conservative commentator Peter Kirsanow;
Claremont McKenna College professor Charles Kesler;
Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education Director Dr. Thomas Lindsay;
College of the Ozarks President Jerry Davis;
American constitutional lawyer Michael Farris; and
previous Representative Bob McEwen (R-OH-06).

The commission will be funded and supported by the Department of Education, but members will only receive compensation for travel expenses.

According to Dr. Swain, the committee expects to meet on January 5. The members are designated to serve for two years.