In this Rising Tide Foundation lecture, Sam Labrier introduces the international geopolitical environment during a time of global upheaval in the early 17th century as platonic humanists in Europe sought more fertile soil far removed from the corruption of the old world wherein a new type of society could be founded upon republican principles of natural law, freedom and progress.

Questions tackled by the lecturer include:

Who was John Winthrop and how did his idea of political economy and public credit transform the new Massachusetts Bay Colony into a productive powerhouse?

Which republican networks in Europe aided the Winthrops, Mathers’ and other republican leaders between 1630-1720?

How were Winthrop’s efforts periodically sabotaged from London and how did he set into motion a positive conspiracy that led into the formation of the American Revolution 140 years later?

How can we learn to navigate through the storms of our modern age by thinking like these great statesmen of the past whos accomplishments have be so sorely scrubbed out of modern history books?

Previous lectures delivered by Sam Labrier:

Colbert, Leibniz and Vattel: The Cameralist Roots of the American System

Vernadsky and the Directionality of Progress (Towards a Science of Humane Development)

Supplementary Reading for anyone wishing to dig into this history more deeply:

The Challenge of Credit Supply: American Problems and Solutions 1650-1950 by Michael Kirsch

How the Nation Was Won by Graham Lowry

Writings by Cotton Mather

Writings by Benjamin Franklin