The Best of the OLL No. 56: Hugo Grotius “The Preliminary Discourse Concerning the Certainty of Right” (1625) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. At the beginning of his book on The Rights of War and Peace Grotius wrote a short “Prolegomena” (Introductory Essay) in which he summarizes his views about natural rights and natural laws. This excerpt comes from the first part of the “Prolegomena.” According to his understanding of human beings, Grotius believed that they were by nature sociable creatures and that the purpose of natural rights, especially the right of property, was to enable them to live together in peace and prosperity.

Subject Guide: The U.S. Constitution (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).

Timeline of Key Figures and Events of the American Founding (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).

The Best of the OLL No. No. 55: Herbert Spencer, “Political Retrospect and Prospect” (1882) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).

The Best of the OLL No. 54: James Harrington, “The Commonwealth of Oceana” (1656) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).

Designed to provide a chronological representation of the unfolding of the early history of the nation, this new full-color, frameable poster (36” by 24”) features historical events and figures of the founding era. Included in the timeline are major military events, such as battles and treaties; historical events that are both directly and indirectly related to the founding; and key men and women who figured prominently in the founding events. The poster provides both a visual representation of the period and a broader historical context for the books Liberty Fund publishes in this subject area.

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. In this chapter Spencer applies his theory of militant and industrial types of society to predicting how Britain, Europe, and the US would develop in the near future. In the late 1870s and early 1880s when he was writing it seemed that European societies were tending away from war and the coercive “militant” type of society and were turning increasingly to a more voluntary market-based or “industrial” type of society. If this trend continued, he predicted that more and more activities which had been undertaken by the state would be supplied voluntarily by local communities or by the free market unless a new war broke out or if people chose to align themselves with coercive trade unions or political parties.

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. Harrington provides a vision of a liberal, democratic, and constitutional society created at a time when England was in the throws of a revolution which had overturned a rigid and repressive monarchy. He predicts that England/Oceana will one day have a representative democracy, civil and religious liberty, and protection of individual property rights. Oceana was much admired by the late 17th and 18th century Commonwealthman and was a text which was reprinted and circulated in the North American colonies by Thomas Hollis.

The Best of the OLL No. 53: Gustave de Molinari, “Of the Liberty of Government” (1849) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).