Free Society Coalition
The One-Hour Declaration Challenge
One Hour. One Conversation. A Lifetime of Reflection. Spend one hour discussing the Declaration of Independence's foundational principles with family, friends, students, colleagues, neighbors, or members of your community. Join Americans across the country in engaging the ideas that continue to shape a free society. Read. Discuss. Reflect.
We convene educators, historians, and civic organizations around shared principles. We support efforts to strengthen constitutional literacy and democratic participation. We equip communities with resources to engage in informed, principled dialogue. We advance the understanding that freedom requires both rights and responsibilities. And we foster conversations that bridge difference without erasing it.
Discover the Free Society Coalition's vision for strengthening American civic life.
Our Commitment
A free society depends on the capacity of its citizens to engage in principled dialogue: to disagree without demonizing, to persuade without coercion, and to listen with a genuine desire to understand.
The Free Society Coalition advances civil discourse not as a neutral exercise, but as a civic discipline rooted in human dignity, moral responsibility, and the common good. We believe that productive disagreement strengthens rather than threatens a free society.
Through our programs and resources, we equip citizens, educators, and institutions to navigate difficult conversations with both conviction and humility, renewing the habits essential to self-government.
"A virtuous and industrious people may be cheaply governed."
— Benjamin Franklin
Our Origin & Foundation
The Free Society Coalition began with the convening of leaders and thinkers who developed the Philadelphia Declaration, articulating the ethics that guide our work, grounded in the ideals of the American founding and a commitment to civil discourse.
Read the Declaration
Coalition Partners
From The Free Society Coalition Dispatch
Volume 1, Issue 5 · September 2026
The latest issue of The Free Society Coalition Dispatch explores the One-Hour Declaration Challenge, civil discourse, Coalition initiatives, and opportunities to engage more deeply with the principles of the Declaration of Independence.
Volume 1 · Issue 5 · September 2026
"One Hour. One Conversation. A Lifetime of Reflection."
1776–2026
America's 250th Anniversary
The 250th anniversary of American independence is not merely a celebration. It is an invitation to reflect on the enduring responsibilities of self-governance. The Free Society Coalition approaches this milestone as an opportunity to strengthen civic understanding for generations to come.
Through partnerships with educators, historians, and civic institutions, we are developing resources and programs that honor the past while preparing citizens for the future.
For Educators
Help students discover the Declaration of Independence by exploring curriculum, discussion tools, primary sources, videos, and other resources that help students engage directly with the Declaration and its enduring ideas.
Featured Resource
Free Society Coalition curriculum produced in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy
Bring the Declaration's ideas into the classroom through close reading, thoughtful questions, textual evidence, and student discussion.
