Born Free & Equal: The Declaration & State Constitutions - The Sower Episode 88 (audio)

The widely circulated first draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights was a key influence on the Declaration of Independence.

Chris Anadale interviews law professor Nathaniel Fouch about the influence of the Declaration of Independence on state constitutions, the authority of America's founding principles, different responses to Jefferson's egalitarian rhetoric, and more.

Nathaniel Fouch is Assistant Professor of Law at Capital University School of Law in Columbus Ohio, where he teaches Criminal Law and Torts and studies state constitutional law, legal history, jurisprudence, appellate law, and religious liberty and conscience rights. He earned his Juris Doctor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. He was also a Nisbet Fellow at our society's March 2026 conference in Omaha, where he presented a paper titled "The Relationship Between the Declaration of Independence and State Constitutions."

Christopher Anadale is podcast editor for the Ciceronian Society, and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

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0:00 Introduction to The Sower Episode 88
1:24 Summary of the Declaration of Independence's Influence on State Constitutions
10:44 Why the Declaration's Authority is Still Relevant in 2026
15:55 PAUL DEHART FAN CLUB CHECK IN
19:22 George Mason's First Draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights
24:37 Three Responses to Jefferson's Claim in the Declaration
31:47 Two Tools for Learning More About State Constitutions
38:35 What Parents and Teachers Can Do Now

Avalon: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/

State Constitutions: https://stateconstitutiontool.org/

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