Birth of America: Capitol Hill Panel & Reception

February 12, 2026

Washington, D.C.

Birth of America: Capitol Hill Panel & Reception
By William J. Watkins, Jr., Kevin R. C. Gutzman, Peter S. Onuf, Phillip W. Magness, Richard Brookhiser

December 23, 2025

When xxxxx

February 12, 2026

Thursday, February 12, 2026
5:30 pm: Guest Arrival and Welcome
6:00 pm: Program and Q&A
7:00 pm. Networking Reception

Location

Washington, D.C.

When

Thursday, February 12, 2026
5:30 pm: Guest Arrival and Welcome
6:00 pm: Program and Q&A
7:00 pm. Networking Reception

Where

Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar
223 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
Map and directions

Tickets

Free Admission. SOLD OUT!



Join us for an exclusive evening panel and reception in Washington, D.C., as the Independent Institute presents a special Liberty at 250 conversation marking the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Hosted at Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar (DC), just steps from Capitol Hill, the evening will begin with a welcome reception featuring an open bar and hors d’oeuvres, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Senior Fellow and David J. Theroux Chair in Political Economy Phillip Magness, the panel features Richard Brookhiser on Thomas Jefferson’s appeal to the “laws of nature and of nature’s God”; William J. Watkins, Jr., on the relationship between the Declaration and the Constitution; Magness on the economic ideas and conditions of 1776; Kevin Gutzman on Jefferson’s political thought from the Declaration through the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798; and Peter Onuf on interpreting the Declaration in light of its earlier drafts and revisions. The evening will conclude with time for continued discussion and informal exchange with the panelists. Open bar and hors d’oeuvres will be provided. We hope to see you there!

This event is part of the Independent Institute’s Liberty at 250 project, which explores the ideas of liberty that shaped the nation’s founding and continue to inform debates about freedom, governance, and American identity today.

Featured Speakers

Phillip W. Magness

Phillip W. Magness is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and the David J. Theroux Chair in Political Economy. He has served as Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, and as Academic Program Director at the Institute for Humane Studies and Adjunct Professor of Public Policy in the School of Public Policy and Government at George Mason University. He received his Ph.D. from George Mason University’s School of Public Policy.

Kevin R. C. Gutzman

Kevin R. C. Gutzman is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and a Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University. For the 2025-2026 year, Gutzman is leading a team of historians and writers creating for the Independent Institute an original collection of essays on the occasion of America’s 250th Anniversary. The essays will offer historically-grounded reflections on “Liberty at 250,” that is, the nation’s 250-year-old embrace of liberty. They will comprise a special Semiquincentennial supplement to the summer 2026 issue of Independent Institute’s quarterly journal of political economy, The Independent Review.

William J. Watkins, Jr.

William J. Watkins, Jr. is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and author of the Independent Institute books The Independent Guide to the Constitution, Crossroads for Liberty, and Reclaiming the American Revolution. He received his B.A. in history and German summa cum laude from Clemson University and his J.D. cum laude from the University of South Carolina School of Law, and his LL.M. with merit from the University of London. Mr. Watkins is a former law clerk to Judge William B. Traxler, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and he is President of the Greenville, SC, Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. He has served as a prosecutor and defense lawyer, and has practiced in various state and federal courts.

Peter S. Onuf

Peter S. Onuf is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of History, emeritus, at the University of Virginia. He is the author and co-author of fourteen books, including, with Annette Gordon-Reed, "Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination.

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, and the author of several books, including Founders’ Son, Right Time, Right Place, George Washington on Leadership, What Would the Founders Do?, Gentleman Revolutionary, Rules of Civility, America’s First Dynasty, Alexander Hamilton, American, Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington, Way of the WASP, and The Outside Story.

Featured Publications

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The Independent Review

A Journal of Political Economy

The Independent Review is the acclaimed quarterly academic journal of the Independent Institute devoted to the study of political economy and the critical analysis of government policy. Thoroughly researched, peer-reviewed, and based on scholarship of the highest caliber, it covers economics, political science, law, history, philosophy, and sociology, with in-depth examinations by some of the world’s leading scholars and experts.