American Enterprise Institute

Author: Harish Iyer

  • Introduction

    Harish Iyer
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    July 4, 2026, will mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and, therefore, of the United States of America. That we can point to such a distinct starting point marks us as a modern nation, perhaps the first modern nation: No countries older than the United States, but almost all countries younger, can…

  • Democracy and the American Revolution

    Harish Iyer
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    Essays on what the contested idea of democracy meant to participants in the American Revolution and how we should think about the democratic ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

  • Religion and the American Revolution

    Harish Iyer
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    In the third symposium of AEI’s “We Hold These Truths: America at 250” initiative, scholars of American history, law, and theology consider how religion shaped the American Revolution. Many who fought for independence viewed the cause as a fundamentally spiritual struggle, one with enormous implications for religion’s future in American civil society. Exploring the ways…