At a time when America’s president and his administration are taking unprecedented moves to ignore the checks and balances of a working government, the role of civics education seems more important than ever.
Monticello, the Charlottesville home of Founding Father and former president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, will serve as a hub for a national network aimed to teach civic knowledge to millions of Americans.
“At a time when civic understanding feels especially urgent, we’re proud to help lead this important work,” said Dr. Jane Kamensky, president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.
A $1 million grant will go toward an effort to connect people to history and the promise of American democracy.
As the president himself works to rewrite history at museums throughout Washington, D.C., the nation’s top elected leader couldn’t likely pass a Civics 101 course. He has shown he has zero understanding of the Declaration of Independence, the document that basically sets forth the checks and balances within government after breaking away from the rule of a king.
“It’s a declaration that’s a declaration of unity, and love, and respect, and it means a lot, and it’s something very special to our country,” Donald Trump said when asked about the document.
Since Day 1, Trump has been abusing the one power he does have – to take care that the laws be faithfully executed – to try to override federal laws and statutes through a barrage of executive orders. Trump has signed executive orders for the so-called war on water pressure and renaming the Gulf of Mexico to a national strategy to end the use of paper straws.
While the EOs are not law, the orders generally can direct federal agencies how to implement the will of Congress. Congress has the power for matters like taxation, spending and war. The system of checks and balances only works, however, when all the parties abide by the law. The Trump administration seems to detest authority, ignoring court orders, and even threatening to arrest or remove judges who don’t fall in line with their far-right Project 2025 agenda for America.
The 250th celebration of the Declaration of Independence next year seems to be a good time to remind every American of how government should work with the Constitution setting rules limiting each branch: legislative, executive and judicial.
The two-year grant to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the private, nonprofit organization that operates Monticello, is from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The grant aims to strengthen civic learning and engagement through museums, historic sites and cultural institutions.
Monticello will coordinate the Education for America Roadmap, a framework for civic and historical learning developed by educators, historians and public leaders. The coalition of more than 200 museums, historic sites, libraries and public institutions is working to embed civic purpose into their programs. Together, the organizations will reach million of Americans and work to bring history alive.
“Monticello has long been a place where people come to wrestle with the meanings and possibilities of our constitutional democracy,” said Kamensky. “This transformational grant allows us to share skills and strategies with other museums and cultural institutions pursuing the same goals.”
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Crystal Graham
