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Offer ends January 31st, 2026. New members only. premier membership performance monitor and monthly billing required discount applies to first month only other terms apply see studio for details this is vadi devlukia from a really good cry i absolutely love being outdoors even if it's just stepping outside for a bit of fresh air between meals or taking a mindful walk to clear my head but the one thing that can really ruin that is when my feet feel cramped in my shoes so i switched to ultra running and honestly it made such a difference. What I love most is their signature ultra fit comfort balance strength. They have this roomy toe box that lets my toes actually spread and move naturally.
And I personally have some wide feet so I really appreciate that. I feel more grounded and balanced with every single step. It's like my feet can finally do their job. Using all those little muscles that make me feel stronger the more I move. Whether you're a marathon runner, beginner or advanced or just getting outside to train, Altras have become my go-to for running and moving mindfully.
They fit so well, they're so comfortable, and they just move with you. Shop now at ultrarunning.com. That's A-L-T-R-A running.com. Experience Altra and stay out there. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people.
Up next, the second episode of our series about us, the story of America. And here to tell it is Hillsdale College professor Bill McClay, author of the fantastic book, Land of Hope. We owe much of who we are today to our mother country, England, and how different it was from the rest of Europe. Let's get into the story. Take it away, Bill.
England was really lucky to be cut off from the continent. The English Channel is not much of a moat to us today. You know, you can drive from London to Paris in a car. But in those days, the channel was a pretty formidable obstacle. It meant that the culture developed quite independently and the English had their own distinctive institutions.
Institutions like common law, a view of law that is very protective of the rights of the people, of individual people, as a result of the fact that common law is custom, customary law. A case at law that's decided by common law is decided on the basis of what did a judge do before? What is the precedent? This is where the whole idea in our law of precedent as an important element in rendering a judicial decision comes from. It comes from the English.
Common law is, as I say, customary law. It's hard to tell the difference between custom and law because in some ways the law is the codification of what's customary. This is a very different way of looking at law. It's not systematic. It's not abstract.
When Napoleon came to power in France, he enacted the Napoleonic Code, which is like an effort to translate the law into a form of geometry and apply all the propositions to the individual instances of life. It's very abstract. It has lots of big problems. Like, where do you draw the line in saying that you're in favor of liberty. Does that liberty mean you can do anything?
Well, the English, you know, had no problem distinguishing between liberty and license. But if all you have is an abstract principle of liberty, you don't really have any guide rails based on what's worked in the past.
So it's a very stable way of looking at things that this island nation evolved. the other thing that i think is important to point out is that the english and later we would call them the british did not go in for absoluteness they went in instead for an idea in which power of rulers is limited by opposing forces that divided and restrained power sounds very American, doesn't it? And in fact, that's because it is very American. Going back to Magna Carta, the king had to share his power with the barons, the wealthy landowners. And coming out of that tradition, the parliament, they had the power of the purse, as we say, the power of taxation, the power of appropriation.
So the crown the king couldn control completely what his own armies did if the parliament didn approve of it And nor could he control a government on the local level Every place had its sheriff its justice of the peace the idea of trial by jury which is a common law institution This is a very English thing that once we've got something going that works, we're sort of set in our ways.
So the English approach was different. It's complicated. I don't know that anybody could have sat down some of the philosopher and devised the English system. It came about because of history. It came about because the kings, through the period of the 17th century, the kings were constantly testing the limits.
And there were various efforts, the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate, and then the Glorious Revolution, 100 years after the Armada. These all were successful efforts to tamp down the efforts of kings to claim the kind of power that the guys in France and Spain had. While all this is going on, this battling, at the same time the colonization of the New World is taking place.
So it's not that surprising that this was not being micromanaged from London. They had too much else going on on the home front. And what a great thing this was for America that it worked out this way because the Spanish colonies, and we can sort of see the legacy of this in the Spanish colonies today, in Mexico, Latin America, a lot of instability. These are systems that got a bad start in life, whereas the English ones started on the notion of entrepreneurship, of individual initiative. They were private undertakings.
It was a private thing. If you were a gutsy proprietor who wanted to establish a colony or got a group of people together who wanted to establish a colony, for whatever purpose, if you could get that together, you could do it. The playing field was open. In Virginia, which was first, 1607, right at the beginning of the 17th century, the people who came came for one reason and one reason only, to get rich. They were gentlemen.
They lived in town, did not have any pioneering skills. skills. They kind of grew up in a part of the English class system that disdained manual labor. They didn't know how to do much of anything, and they didn't really see why they should. They're a little bit hard to cozy up to, nor could they own land because actually they were employees of the Virginia company.
That incentive was lacking too. It was really take the money and run in a lot of ways. It's a wonder that Virginia didn't fail. Half of the settlers died in the first winter. Ironically, what comes along to save Virginia is tobacco.
Tobacco is a great hit in Europe. King James I called it a filthy novelty and compared its emanations to the smoky fires of hell. He didn't hold back. When we come back, more of Bill McClay, more of Land of Hope, our second episode here on Our American Stories. Folks, if you love the stories we tell about this great country, and especially the stories of America's rich past, know that all of our stories about American history, from war to innovation, culture, and faith, are brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College, a place where students study all the things that are beautiful in life.
And if you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free and terrific online courses. Go to hillsdale.edu to learn more. Are you looking for entertainment that lifts you up? Then check out Up Faith and Family, the leading streaming service for inspiring, hope-filled shows and movies. This season, stream soul-stirring favorites like Southern Gospel, plus four full seasons of Jesus Calling and the uplifting new faith series, These Stones.
Or settle in with 19 seasons of the beloved family series, Heartland, a family favorite ranch drama fans can't get enough of. It's commercial free. Stream anywhere. Get a free trial today. Go to upfaithandfamily.com slash iHeart.
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Other terms apply. See studio for details. This is Radha DeVlukia from A Really Good Cry. And I absolutely love getting outside. Whether it's a quick walk or a few mindful steps between meeting or a longer run to just clear my head.
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And we return to Our American Stories and the second episode of our series, The Story of America. This one titled Establishing Eden in the Wilderness. And it's being brought to us by Hillsdale College professor, Bill McClay, author of the book, Land of Hope. And there's a terrific children's version. When we last left off, Bill was telling us about those who arrived first in America from England, those who formed Virginia.
They came for business purposes. They came for wealth. Others would come for religious reasons. The Pilgrims were the first. Let's return to the story.
These were not desperate people. They were people who were comfortably middle class, even well off, and they were willing to leave all of that behind. They brought their families. They brought their wives and children. These are people who came to stay because they had a goal.
They were establishing Zion in the wilderness. But there was a problem. The original Plymouth was going to be in Virginia. The land was designated for them. Was.
but they got blown off course and they ended up at Cape Cod and that's where they decided well, you know, we've run out of provisions we can't go any further so we're going to just drive our stake in the ground here the problem was that it was actually beyond the jurisdiction of any known government and there were some really smart guys aboard the ship who were not Puritans who figured this out they had joined on to this voyage partly because they could get a free passage to the new world this way and they might be free to just go their own way once they hit landfall what would happen if all these workmen what they called aboard ship they called them the strangers what if they all split once they made landfall so they realized they had a problem and they and This is why they sat down together before they came ashore and drafted and signed something that we now call the Mayflower Compact. And it's a very important document. I would say in the history of the world, it represents a group of people coming together and creating themselves as a civil society. It's an act of self-creation of a civil society. This is before the idea of the social contract.
You know, we think of John Locke and people like that. They were such an influence on the founders of our country. But this was a long time before the Declaration of Independence, a long time before John Locke. Anyway, they did this. What they did was they created a secular society.
Yes, it's got all kinds of flourishes to make it clear that these are God-fearing people. It's also full of flourishes expressing happy subjection to the king, to their king.
So they're not declaring independence or anything like that. And they're not saying we are secular. But in fact, it is a secular agreement. And they leave room for freedoms of religion, those who are not believers. It's quite an interesting document in that way.
They tailored it to the situation, but it ended up having a broader applicability. And it mirrors what began to happen in other aspects of life in New England. The churches were all what we call congregational churches. You know, that each individual congregation has its own leadership, makes its own rules. Unlike, let's say, the Roman Catholic Church or the Anglican Church, both of which are Episcopal churches, meaning that they have people all up the pyramid to whom individual congregations are accountable.
Not so in New England. Each congregation was self-governing. And that's how, to a large extent, they ordered their political life. This is new. This is really unique.
Now, later on, this doctrine would be in the Declaration of Independence itself. But as I say, they did this in practice before it became a theory. And I just want to say this, this is, ask the question. Could this have happened at any previous time in human history this way? Isn't this some way connected with the age of exploration?
People from highly developed societies coming to places where they had a pretty free hand in creating the institutions they wanted out of uncut cloth. That's a kind of unique event in human history.
Now Massachusetts Bay Colony was a little bit different It was much bigger The leader, John Winthrop, was a layman but a very well-educated layman and a very well-off lawyer Again, this is a guy who gave up a lot to come to this far strand And before they landed He gave a speech which has come to be regarded as one of the quintessential statements of the Puritan outlook. It's called, by the way, A Model of Christian Charity. It's establishing at the start what the model according to which the colony should develop itself. And he says, We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities for the supply of others necessities We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness gentleness patience and liberality We must delight in each other, make others' conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together. The Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us as his own people and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways so that we shall see much more of his wisdom, power, goodness, and truth than formerly we have been acquainted with.
We shall find that the God of Israel is among us when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies. For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. I want to emphasize the fact that to be a city on the hill is not to win some kind of prize like you've won the Academy Award and you can flaunt your Oscar in front of everybody it's the eyes of the world are upon us see that's what Winthrop says the eyes of all people are upon us and he goes on to say if we are found wanting if we mess up, not only do we mess up for ourselves, we mess up for all Christians everywhere. High pressure.
You know, you've got to keep shining. You can't just say, oh, I'm having a bad day. I'm not going to be the light of the world. I'm going to go around and cuss people out. And you've got to be the light of the world constantly.
And that's what they believed. And here they are on the other side of the world, dark side of the moon, so to speak. They're far away from everything known, everything civilized. How could they believe that the eyes of the whole world are upon them? But they did.
But they did. And they took the words of Christ as their own assignment. William Bradford, who was with the pilgrims, he has a passage that's even more powerful in this regard. Listen to this. The multitude of them there were they knew not.
For which way soever they turned their eyes, save upward Devin, they could not have but little solace or content in respect of any outward object. For summer being ended, all things stand in appearance with weather-beaten face, and the whole country, full of woods and thickets, represented a wild, a savage hue. If they looked behind them, there was a mighty ocean which they had passed, and was now a being, bar, or gulf to separate them from all the civil parts of the world? What could now sustain them but the spirit of God and his grace? And what indeed, everywhere they looked, save upward to heaven, they saw formidable challenges.
And a special thanks to Hillsdale College professor Bill McClay. His book, Land of Hope, go to Amazon or The Usual Suspects and buy it. And there's a terrific children's version. The Story of America, the second episode, Establishing Eden in the Wilderness, here on Our American Stories. Live CBS Sunday.
Hollywood's biggest party is now bigger than ever. Perfect. No, no. The Golden Globes, with more stars, more glamour, more chaos. And more host, Nikki Glaser.
We're going to laugh at the celebrities that can take it and completely ignore the ones who can't. I'm just kidding. They're not safe either. The Golden Globes, live CBS Sunday, 8 Eastern, 5 Pacific, and streaming on Paramount+. Are you looking for entertainment that lifts you up?
Then check out Upped Faith and Family, the leading streaming service for inspiring, hope-filled shows and movies. This season, stream soul-stirring favorites like Southern Gospel, plus four full seasons of Jesus Calling. and the uplifting new faith series, These Stones. Or settle in with 19 seasons of the beloved family series, Heartland, a family favorite ranch drama fans can't get enough of. It's commercial free.
Stream anywhere. Get a free trial today. Go to upfaithandfamily.com slash iHeart. The new year brings new health goals and wealth goals. Protecting your identity is an important step.
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Visit LifeLock.com slash iHeart. Terms apply. This is Julian Edelman from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jewels. Sunday mornings, I've got my game day ritual. coffee lucky socks and now new morning uncrustable sandwiches it's all about that 12 gram protein boost with the new uncrustables bright eyed berry or up and apple flavors bright eye berries got a feisty receiver energy up an apple your classic do it all tight end soft pillowy packed with protein and easy enough for Gronk to grab from the freezer.
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