Lessons in Liberty

A California Teacher of the Year outlines lessons from American heroes that instill renewed admiration of their achievements, provides guidelines for self-improvement, and sets us on a constructive path to recovering our past.

In his quarter century of teaching, Jeremy S. Adams has watched his students become increasingly disinterested in history and cynical about the American Experiment itself. Students today reject America’s past, viewing it as a laundry list of corrupt people, oppressive institutions, and irrelevant out-of-date fables.

As an educator and a father, Adams feels a deep responsibility to restore young people’s belief in the importance of American history, how it binds us as a nation and offers crucial insights to help us in the struggle to “become a more perfect Union.” In Lessons in Liberty, he carves out a fresh and surprising approach to the past, highlighting the unique human details of iconic figures and the lessons they teach, such as:

Daniel Inouye, a Japanese American who carried out dangerous missions in World War II and later became a US Senator representing Hawaii, who exemplifies how true patriotism is never blind to injustice.

George Washington, whose lifelong struggle to conquer his temper makes him a model for self-help and self-improvement.

Eleven-year-old Clara Barton, whose experience helping her injured brother regain his health helped her develop the courage and ferocity she would need to pioneer nursing techniques during the Civil War.

With this beautifully written, non-partisan, deeply researched book, Adams reclaims history for a new generation, showing the surprising ways heroes as diverse as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Arthur Ashe, and Thomas Jefferson can speak to our lives today.