The year 2026 marks
the 250th anniversary of American independence, yet the founding is
controversial now in ways it has not been in decades. In honor of this
significant anniversary, the
American Enterprise Institute offers a major intellectual and educational
project to reintroduce Americans to the unique value of their national
inheritance. In the second volume
of this series, leading historians, political scientists, and economists
analyze the role that the market economy played in the creation of the United
States. Alongside the American Declaration of Independence, 1776 marked the
publication of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. This work shaped the
political and economic thought of many leaders in the American Revolution,
including those who would go on to join rival political parties, such as Thomas
Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. At the same time, the founders evinced
concerns over what economic inequality might mean for political freedom in the
fledgling republic. Understanding how
the founding generation viewed the promises and perils of capitalism in
securing the future of the United States can shed light on modern debates over
capitalism's role in American society.