"How the 16th President Would Celebrate the 250th"

“Abraham Lincoln's American Revolution: How the 16th President Would Celebrate the 250th”

The Center for American Civic Leadership and Public Discourse is pleased to present “Abraham Lincoln's American Revolution: How the 16th President Would Celebrate the 250th” featuring Professor Allen Guelzo, a leading scholar of American political thought and professor of humanities at the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida.

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, Professor Guelzo will deliver a lecture exploring how President Lincoln understood the American Revolution as the great event of American history from which he drew conclusions about equality, the consent of the governed, and the nature of the revolution itself. The lecture will discuss how Lincoln drew inspiration from the nation’s Founders, which strengthened his resolve that the terrible costs of the Civil War would bring the nation "a new birth of freedom."

The lecture is part of the Center’s yearlong speaker series, “America 250 and Its Promises: The American Founding and the Abiding Pursuit of its Ideals,” which commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by examining the enduring principles of the American founding and their relevance today. To enhance the educational impact of the event and promote civic literacy and engagement, attendees will receive free copies of the Center’s pocket Constitution, which contains the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the other constitutional amendments, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

This event is sponsored by the Center for American Civic Leadership and Public Discourse in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences with support from the Jack Miller Center.

Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. The program will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is suggested.

About The Center for American Civic Leadership and Public Discourse

The Center aspires to make the University of South Carolina a driver of renewed civic culture in the United States by fostering intellectual inquiry, reasoned discourse, and respect across differences in pursuit of the common good. Its overarching mission is to promote the dialogic, cultural, and civic literacy critical to a well-ordered and flourishing polity.

About Professor Allen Guelzo

Professor Guelzo is a preeminent Lincoln scholar, professor of humanities at the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida, and Jack Miller Center Academic Council Member. Prior to joining the Hamilton School, he was the Thomas W. Smith Distinguished Research Scholar and Director of the James Madison Program Initiative on Politics and Statesmanship at Princeton University. He is a celebrated author, New York Times best-seller, and two-time winner of the Lincoln Prize whose numerous works include Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America, and Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America.