George L. Priest of Yale Law School delivered the May Bradley Lecture.

Currently dominant histories of the founding of America—by Gordon Wood and Bernard Bailyn, for example—emphasize the religious and democratic origins of the United States, adjusted for the history of slavery. This lecture will attempt to shift that emphasis...

Five works that illuminate the shared heritage of America and Britain.

Are the origins of the United States religious and political, or did economic motives drive the early colonists?

The consensus view that America's origins are ideological and religious is insufficient to explain this country. The role of economics, capitalism, and wealth are equally important, if not more.