January 17, 2011, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Today, schoolchildren across America are reciting the stirring words of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Nearly everyone knows Martin Luther King, Jr. as the great leader of the civil rights movement in America who espoused a philosophy of non-violent opposition to racial discrimination and segregation; fewer recognize King's contribution to the natural law tradition of American constitutionalism.

As we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., the Witherspoon Institute is proud to announce a public preview of a new online academic resource dedicated to natural law and the American tradition. Today is an apt occasion to learn more deeply about that great tradition, to which, King said, we are the heirs through "the magnificent words" of the "architects of our republic."

The aim of the Witherspoon Institute's project is to create a nonpartisan, educational website on Natural Law, Natural Rights, and American Constitutionalism, which will serve as an online resource center for students, teachers, and educated citizens to learn about the intellectual traditions of natural law and natural rights, particularly within American political and constitutional history.

The project is made possible through the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities through its We the People initiative and with direction from scholars associated with the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. The goal of the NEH We the People initiative is to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture through the support of projects that explore significant events and themes in our nation's history and culture, which advance knowledge of the principles that define America.

The resources of Natural Law, Natural Rights, and American Constitutionalism are arranged into five categories:

1. Classical and Medieval Sources of Natural Law
2. Early Modern Liberal Roots of Natural Law
3. American Founding and Constitutionalism
4. Contemporary Theories of Natural Law
5. Critics of the Natural Law Tradition

We have been honored to have the participation of many distinguished scholars in order to bring the project to fruition. The following is a list of the scholars who have collaborated in the project, and the essays that they have contributed (for a complete list of our contributors, please click here):

Platonic Philosophy and Natural Law
V. Bradley Lewis, Catholic University of America
Aristotle, Natural Law, and the Founders
Michael Pakaluk, Ave Maria University
Cicero and the Natural Law
Walter Nicgorski, University of Notre Dame
Aquinas's Theory of Natural Law
Thomas D. D'Andrea, University of Cambridge
Ockham to Hooker: Late Medieval Transformations of Natural Law
Paul E. Sigmund, Princeton University
Hobbes: Natural Law to Natural Rights
Robert Kraynak, Colgate University
Locke and the Natural Rights Tradition
Steven Forde, University of North Texas
Natural Law and the Law of Nations
Samuel Gregg, The Acton Institute
Montesquieu: Natural Law and Natural Right
Paul A. Rahe, Hillsdale College
Common Law and the Law of Reason
James R. Stoner, Jr., Louisiana State University
English Radical Whigs and Natural Law
Michael Zuckert, University of Notre Dame
Colonial Roots of American Constitutionalism
Lee Ward, University of Regina
The Declaration of Independence
James R. Stoner, Jr., Louisiana State University
Constitution-Making in the Founding Era
John Dinan, Wake Forest University
The Bill of Rights and Natural Rights
Thomas Pangle, University of Texas at Austin
The Influence of the Scottish Enlightenment
Daniel N. Robinson, University of Oxford
Lincoln and the Natural Law Tradition
Herman Belz, University of Maryland, emeritus
The Post-Civil War Amendments
Michael Zuckert, University of Notre Dame
Natural Law and the Supreme Court
Paul Moreno, Hillsdale College
American Civil Rights Movements
William B. Allen, Michigan State University, emeritus
New Natural Law Theory
Christopher O. Tollefsen, University of South Carolina
Modern Constitutionalism
Walter Berns, Georgetown University, emeritus
Machiavelli, Guicciardini, and Raison d'Etat
Maurizio Viroli, Princeton University
Enlightenment Critics of Natural Law
Darren Staloff, CCNY; Alan M. Levine, American University
Social Darwinism and Natural Law
Bradley C. S. Watson, St. Vincent College
American Progressivism
Ronald J. Pestritto, Hillsdale College
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Bradley C. S. Watson, St. Vincent College
Natural Law and Legal Positivism
James B. Murphy, Dartmouth College

In this public preview, you will find the website in its first phase. We continue to receive and edit new essays and educational materials, acquire facsimiles of primary sources, and improve technical aspects of the website. No resource of this kind currently exists; considering the importance of the natural law tradition to American constitutionalism, therefore, we are certain that this endeavor will prove a worthwhile investment of time and effort. We hope that you will visit Natural Law, Natural Rights, and American Constitutionalism 1.0 and we welcome your comments and suggestions regarding the site. Please contact our editorial staff at nlnrac@winst.org with comments or queries.

The Witherspoon Institute is an independent research center that works to enhance public understanding of the moral foundations of free and democratic societies. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute promotes the application of fundamental principles of republican government and ordered liberty to contemporary problems through a variety of research and educational ventures. To support the Witherspoon Institute, please follow the contribution instructions or donate online via PayPal.