The American Experiment 50 Years After the Constitution

OLLI of Greater Birmingham presents: "The American Experiment 50 Years After the Constitution" February 5, 12, 19, and 26th; 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM (with one hour for lunch). Instructor: Richard Rhone, retired history teacher, principal, and superintendent. “Liberty, when it begins to root, is a plant of rapid growth.” That’s how the noble George Washington described what was happening in America’s beginning. And in our country’s first 50 years we grew and expanded our liberties as well as our land area so rapidly that liberty’s plant might have been kudzu. Why did freedom expand and thrive in the United States when it has failed to do so after revolutions in most countries? William Faulkner may have best explained it: “We are not free because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” This course will give an overview of the new American Experiment’s first 50 years.