Posts by Justice Will Sellers

The Magna Carta did not merely anticipate the Declaration of Independence. It made it necessary, made it credible, and made it permanent.

The United States went to great lengths and immense cost to bring our heroes home, yet we are also a nation whose military cemeteries remain a "silent sentinel" in foreign lands: honored, respected, and never forgotten.

A hundred years after his birth, Davis remains not just a towering figure in jazz, but a symbol of creative evolution itself. Miles Davis and jazz are synonymous. 

The Halifax Resolves were a pivotal moment, when the idea of independence moved from possibility to policy, and the path toward a new nation became irreversible.  

Power can accumulate gradually, even legitimately, through competence and effectiveness. A leader can become the “obvious choice” in a moment of national weakness, but legitimacy is not static. It must be renewed, not just through performance, but through participation and consent of the governed.

The first major victory for the Continental Army occurred 250 years ago on March 17, 1776, when the British evacuated Boston. 

Strength is not measured in numbers, but in the will to stand fast when all logic says to flee. 

For Presidents Day, we deserve an honest reckoning with the presidents we excuse and what our selective conscience reveals about our values and moral judgment of our leaders. 

Charles I’s coronation 400 years ago inadvertently influenced migration to the colonies and allowed colonial self-government to prosper. 

In 1776 – 250 years ago – General George Washington made a pragmatic and radical decision when he integrated the Continental Army, allowing free black men – and later some formerly enslaved men – to serve alongside white soldiers. 

Two hundred fifty years ago on January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine published his influential pamphlet, “Common Sense.” In today’s word, its publication went “viral” as it was re-printed and distributed throughout the American Colonies.

The Pilgrims’ first Christmas in the New World was remarkable, but not for the reasons you’d think. On December...

Imagine going to visit a relative in another country and discovering they had things that your own country did not.

From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success.

This Thanksgiving we have every reason to be grateful and to invite God back to our table, acknowledging all the micro-blessings we take for granted and attributing them to His care and loving kindness. 

It would be easy to quit the United Nations, recall our troops, and embrace the adage of fortress America. But we cannot disengage from the world no matter how much we are disliked, abused and misunderstood.

What started out as Clinton’s folly became Clinton’s success as economic development from the Erie Canal increased trade, prosperity, and tax revenues. 

The depth of Russian duplicity created a hostile environment that would take years to thaw. 

Unlike other communities, Alabama will not stand by and let the dark clouds of discrimination retard our progress. Never again will our state be divided on the basis of race or faith.

Three hundred years ago this month, in a dockside community in the East End of London, John Newton was born.

With little experience in democracy, freedom of expression, and individual rights, Russia continues to embrace concepts deeply rooted in authoritarianism and repression of all opposition.

Before the Declaration of Independence, there was the Olive Branch Petition.

That great standard of liberty, the Magna Carta, is 810 years old this month.

As the first time a global conflict caused death to U.S. citizens on mainland American soil, this incident serves as a reminder that even 80 years later, our nation remains vulnerable to indiscriminate attack by hostile powers. 

World War II ended in Europe 80 years ago, but without obtaining its stated objective.

One of America’s most famous combat correspondents, Ernie Pyle, was killed 80 years ago on the island of Ie Shima in Japan.

Two hundred years ago, the Marquis de Lafayette spent nine days in Alabama traveling across the midwestern portion of the state from Georgia to Montgomery, then to Selma, the Capitol at Cahawba, and downriver to Mobile.