Portraits of Liberty

Four hundred before Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations, the 14th-century Andalusian statesman and scholar Ibn Khaldun discussed the division of labor, the benefits of trade, and the optimal rate of taxation. Today, historians consider Ibn Khaldun's work as the precursor to the disciplines o economics, historiography, and sociology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite being the first-ever vice president and second president, until very recently, John Adams was ignored by historians in favor of figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. But Adams was one of the practical and philosophical powerhouses of the American Revolution. Without the lifelong dedication of Adams, it is arguable the American Revolution might never have succeeded. C. Bradley Thompson joins Portraits to vindicate why Adams deserves a place amongst the greats of American history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beginning life as the son of a baker, Luis Cabrera Lobato rose to prominence as a lawyer and became one of the sharpest intellects of the Mexican Revolution. At the time, he was Mexico's foremost constitutional. Luis noticed that without the restraint of the law, names change, but dictators remain.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Intellectual, poet, and playwright Václav Havel began life on the fringes of Communist Czechoslovakia. Alongside fellow dissidents, Václav played a vital role in the Velvet Revolution, peacefully toppling the communist state and becoming the first president of the newly founded country. Today he is remembered for his moral integrity and biting critique of the spiritual oppression inherent in the communist system. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Dyer left England to pursue her religious beliefs without persecution in the New World. However, once she arrived, she quickly realized the hypocrisy of the Puritan authorities, who persecuted her, even fashioning her tragic miscarriage as a "monstrous birth" in order to discredit her. Her execution, and that of many religious dissidents like her, carved out the space for the kind of religious freedom we so often take for granted today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Born in Havana in 1853, José Martí witnessed the horrors of slavery at a young age and dedicated his life to fighting against imperialism and racism. Martí many things, a poet, a philosopher, journalist, professor, but above all else a patriot to Cuba. He was an anti-racist and anti-colonial thinker who criticized any form of oppression. Though he failed in his efforts to gain independence for Cuba, Martí has become a heroic figure for liberty in Latin America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today Cicero is often read-only by classical scholars and reluctant students which is a great shame because his life and philosophy reflect a sort of proto-liberalism that came to influence a wide variety of thinkers such as John Adams, John Locke, Adam Smith, Voltaire, and Montesquieu. His life and works have echoed throughout the western tradition of political philosophy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unlike their monarchical neighbors, the 17th-century Dutch Republic was a tolerant capitalist society amid a Golden Age of exploration, commerce, and science. The most outstanding defenders of this out of place, yet highly successful republic were the De La Court brothers, two radical writers who become precursors to the most radical elements of Enlightenment thought in favor of commerce, toleration, and above all else, liberty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Born in Germany in the first half of the 20th-century, Sophie Scholl witnessed the rise of the Nazi party and state throughout her childhood. By the time she was a student at the University of Munich, she could not stand idly by as the Nazi war machine raged. Scholl joined the peaceful activist group known as the White Rose and tried to shine a light on Nazi Germany's evil crimes. For her activism, she paid the ultimate price. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Born in England while Puritans were persecuted, Williams hopped aboard a ship to America in an attempt to find a place where freedom of religion was a guaranteed right. Unable to find a home free of religious persecution, he founded his own colony, now known as Rhode Island, one of the first places ever to establish absolute freedom of religion with no ifs or buts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.