The Exception: The 13th Amendment and Prison Labor
America at 250: Due Diligence
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in America — but not completely. Buried in its text is an exception allowing involuntary servitude “as a punishment for crime.” That language would become enormously consequential after the Civil War, as Southern states built systems of Black Codes, vagrancy laws, convict leasing, and prison labor that pushed thousands of newly freed Black Americans back into conditions that often looked strikingly similar to slavery. Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman are joined first by Damon Root, senior editor at Reason and author of Emancipation War, to trace the...
info_outline
Forgotten Founders II
America at 250: Due Diligence
The story of America’s founding is usually told through the same handful of names: Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Hamilton and Franklin. But the creation of the United States involved a much larger cast—and some of the men who helped shape the country have nearly disappeared from popular memory. In the second installment of our “Forgotten Founders” series, America at 250: Due Diligence examines the lives and legacies of James Wilson and Roger Sherman, two enormously influential founders whose contributions remain far less familiar than those of their more celebrated...
info_outline
I Plead the Fifth
America at 250: Due Diligence
“I plead the Fifth.” It’s one of the most recognizable phrases in American law — and one of the most misunderstood. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman look at how the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination became intertwined with guilt in the American imagination. Brandeis University professor Thomas Doherty takes us back to the 1947 Hollywood hearings, when the Hollywood Ten refused to answer questions from the House Un-American Activities Committee and ultimately went to prison for contempt of Congress. From there,...
info_outline
Forgotten Founders
America at 250: Due Diligence
Everyone knows Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton and Franklin. But some of the people who played crucial roles in creating the United States have almost disappeared from the story. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Steve Herman and Bill Bernardoni look at two of the most consequential—and most overlooked—figures of the founding generation: John Dickinson and Gouverneur Morris. Historian Dr. Jane Calvert, director and chief editor of the John Dickinson Writings Project and author of Penman of the Founding, explains how Dickinson became one of the most famous Americans...
info_outline
Whose Religion?
America at 250: Due Diligence
The fight over church and state is back in the classroom. Texas requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools. Similar laws have emerged in Louisiana and Arkansas, while states are also considering Bible-based curriculum and school chaplain programs. Supporters argue these policies recognize America's history and religious heritage. Opponents say they cross a constitutional line by putting government behind a particular faith. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman examine how an argument that began before the Constitution was...
info_outline
Faith Without Force
America at 250: Due Diligence
Who should decide what Americans believe—and what happens when government takes a side? The First Amendment prohibits the establishment of religion while protecting its free exercise. But the phrase most closely associated with that principle—a “wall of separation between church and state”—does not appear in the Constitution. It comes from an 1802 letter written by President Thomas Jefferson to a group of Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman trace the origins of religious liberty from the persecution of...
info_outline
The Free Press On Trial
America at 250: Due Diligence
America at 250: Due Diligence goes live from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., for a special hour recorded in the Club's First Amendment Room. As the country marks its 250th year, hosts Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman convene a conversation on the state of a free press, introduced by National Press Club president Mark Schoeff Jr. of CQ Roll Call. The episode opens with a statement from Catherine Herridge, the Emmy Award-winning investigative correspondent who has covered national security and intelligence for ABC, Fox, and CBS. Herridge was held in civil contempt in February 2024...
info_outline
Making Friends: Benjamin Franklin and America’s First Public Diplomacy Campaign
America at 250: Due Diligence
Before the United States could win its independence, it had to convince the world that the American experiment was worth supporting. The thirteen colonies had no navy, no national treasury, and little credibility among Europe’s great powers. Defeating the British Empire would require more than success on the battlefield. The revolutionaries needed weapons, loans, trade, diplomatic recognition, and powerful foreign allies. They also had to persuade European leaders and ordinary citizens that a collection of rebellious colonies could become a stable and successful nation. In this episode of...
info_outline
The Power of War
America at 250: Due Diligence
Who decides when the United States goes to war? The Constitution divides that responsibility between Congress and the president. Congress possesses the power to declare and fund war, while the president serves as commander in chief. But from the earliest years of the republic, the boundary between those powers has been tested, stretched, and frequently blurred. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman trace the evolution of American war powers from Thomas Jefferson’s campaign against the Barbary powers to Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
info_outline
One Toke Over the Line: Prohibition, Marijuana, and the Limits of Federal Power
America at 250: Due Diligence
Alcohol prohibition required the Constitution twice—once to impose it and once to repeal it. Marijuana prohibition took a different path, imposed through federal law even as a growing number of states have chosen legalization. In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Steve Herman and Bill Bernardoni examine how national prohibition takes hold, what happens when Americans refuse to comply, and how conflicts between federal and state power can reshape the law. Historian Richard Hamm explains how nearly a century of temperance organizing, religious activism, women’s groups, and...
info_outlineThe fight over church and state is back in the classroom.
Texas requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools. Similar laws have emerged in Louisiana and Arkansas, while states are also considering Bible-based curriculum and school chaplain programs. Supporters argue these policies recognize America's history and religious heritage. Opponents say they cross a constitutional line by putting government behind a particular faith.
In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman examine how an argument that began before the Constitution was written continues to shape American politics and public education.
Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, discusses her organization's legal challenges to Ten Commandments laws and why she believes freedom of religion must also protect Americans from government-imposed religion.
Then religion journalist Bob Smietana steps back from the courtroom to examine the larger story: the political and religious forces driving these measures, the rise of Christian nationalism, and why teaching about religion can be very different from government promoting it.
From Baptist preachers jailed in Colonial America to today's battles over scripture on classroom walls, the underlying question remains remarkably familiar:
When government gets involved in religion, whose religion wins?