Professors dispute notion America’s founding was based on slavery in new book– www.thecollegefix.com

Historians and professors refute arguments from popular ‘1619 Project’

In keeping with the nation’s 250th anniversary, a new book “A Nation Born in a Day: Visions of the American Founding” brings together a collection of scholarly essays examining America’s founding and critiquing the claims made by “The 1619 Project.”

“In 1776, America’s Founders set forth principles of equality, liberty, and consent of the governed,” the book’s editor, Michael Poliakoff, told The College Fix in a recent interview. “Although it would be a long journey to shed the stain of slavery, the Founders set us and the world on that path.”

Poliakoff is a professor of classics and president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a conservative organization that works to support liberal arts education and uphold academic standards.

The book, published by Stone Tower Press, features essays by 10 historians and scholars who refute the claims of the popular 2019 New York Times series “The 1619 Project.” 

The project’s main, much-disputed thesis put slavery and the contribution of black Americans at the center of American history, claiming that it was central to the nation’s historical development. The title emphasizes the year when the first enslaved Africans arrived in the English colony of Virginia, as a symbolic starting point for understanding the country. This slavery-focused historical outlook argues that slavery is paramount in impact and importance over the principles set by the Founding Fathers.