President Joe Biden issued a flurry of deeply troubling executive orders during his first week in office.  One of the most alarming is his order to dissolve the 1776 Commission on American history established by President Donald Trump. For its part, Biden’s team claimed Trump’s commission “sought to erase America’s history of racial injustice.”[1] The truth is, however, that President Donald Trump created the patriotic 1776 Commission as a response to the harmful and misleading 1619 Project, sponsored by the liberal New York Times.[2]

Historians David and Tim Barton of WallBuilders joined the Truth & Liberty livecast on January 25 where they addressed the 1776 Commission and how understanding the truth of history is important to the future of America.

“Instead of learning more about our history, we’re going to learn less about it,” said David Barton of Biden’s decision.

1776 vs. 1619

The 1619 Project, published in New York Times Magazine, takes its name from the year the first Africans arrived in America at Jamestown, Virginia. The central tenet of the project, the United States was formed to protect the institution of slavery, has been widely debunked by historians and other scholars.[3]

Tim Barton summarized the mindset of the 1619 Project: “We’re going to start with Jamestown, 1619, and we’re going to show how America was built by slavery.” The premise of the project is flawed, he noted, because the first Africans actually arrived as indentured servants, not slaves, and later prospered as free people.

The project paints America in the worst possible light and challenges foundational values of self-government and a free-market economy. It seeks to advance the narrative that our principles are unjust and need to be reimagined. The 1619 Project fits within a larger agenda pushed by globalists to undermine America’s heritage and pave the way for a socialistic command economy with limited individual freedoms. The globalist agenda is championed by the World Economic Forum, a UN affiliated consortium of scores of major international corporations. The socialist push is being called the “Great Reset,” the Bartons explained. 

Proponents of the 1619 Project claim to be seeking more diversity and equality. In contrast, the aim of the 1776 Commission was to “enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776 and to strive to form a more perfect Union.”[4]

Preserving Foundational Values

America is facing an existential crisis. The values outlined in the Declaration of Independence made this nation great and have been the philosophical foundation for the spread of freedom around the world. Yet, those principles are being purged from classrooms, boardrooms, and public discourse.  

“Now we’re in a culture where lying comes easier than telling the truth,” says David. “If you lie, you’re going to be attacked less than if you tell the truth; if you tell the truth, it’s going to cost you more than lying.”

If people want to respond to revisionist history, they need to educate themselves and others. A number of resources are available at the WallBuilders website to help educators, churches, and individuals transform their nation with the truth.

“You can’t very well act beyond what you know,” says David. “So you can’t counter the 1619 Project if you don’t know what the truth is.”

Learn More

Learn more about our nation’s history in the Bartons’ latest book, The American Story: The Beginnings, check out their Constitution Alive! course, and watch David’s message on confronting challenges in contemporary culture, “Run to the Roar.”

Explore the Truth & Liberty website to watch the full episode of the Truth & Liberty livecast with David and Tim Barton. Read the full 1776 Commission Report, and learn how you can become a Truth & Liberty Coalition member and join us in standing for truth in the public square.

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[1] Brittany Bernstein, “Biden Signs Executive Order Disbanding 1776 Commission,” National Review, January 20, 2021, https://www.nationalreview.com/news/biden-signs-executive-order-disbanding-1776-commission/

[2] “Executive Order on Establishing the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission,” Trump White House Archives, Nov. 2, 2020, https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-establishing-presidents-advisory-1776-commission/

[3] Elliot Kaufman, “The ‘1619 Project’ Gets Schooled,” Wall Street Journal, Dec. 16, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-1619-project-gets-schooled-11576540494

[4] “The 1776 Report,” The President’s Advisory 1776 Commission, January 2021, p. 1, https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/The-Presidents-Advisory-1776-Commission-Final-Report.pdf