The key elements of a broadened approach; the study of history with this fast-moving examination of the origins of religious and racial tolerance in America; grasping how the assumptions one has held can differ dramatically from historical reality.

Understanding history with a look at efforts of the colonists to defend their rights as Englishmen; the ironic role played by European tyrannies in helping establish the nation that would forever change the definition of liberty.

Jefferson and Hamilton hold opposing views on policy and constitutional interpretation; their conflict is often thought of in terms of one's contemporary understanding of liberalism and conservatism; it is relevant in very different ways.