Education stood at the heart of the Founders’ hopes for the new American Republic. They understood—perhaps more clearly than we do now—that liberty could not endure on laws and arms alone. It required character, discipline, virtue, and an informed citizenry.

From this belief emerged what later historians would call Republican Motherhood, a term applied long after the Revolution to describe its aftermath. It was a doctrine of necessity: if the republic were to survive, its future citizens had to be formed early, deliberately, and with care.

Women were therefore encouraged to be educated — not for public office, but to guide the moral and intellectual development of the next generation. The home became a quiet but essential pillar of the republic.

Today, there are many sources to educate the next generation of Americans. At the Jefferson Club, we are committed to making those sources available for study at home, as a supplement to civic education, and always free—so the values of republicanism, and the requirements for its survival, remain within reach of all.

Coming Soon…