About IAL
Three decades of serious civic learning
From Texas to the Blue Ridge
The Institute for American Liberty was established in Texas in 1996. Through discussion groups, patriotic events, and classes, it has helped citizens encounter the principles set forth in America’s founding documents.
Today the Institute is based in Buena Vista, Virginia, near Southern Virginia University. It convenes citizens, students, teachers, and scholars to study American history, politics, constitutional government, and religious liberty.
Principles of Liberty
As set forth in America’s Declaration of Independence and Washington’s Farewell Address, these principles form the foundation of American independence and governance.
- All men are created equal—equal in their rights to self-government and freedom, and equal before the law.
- We are endowed by our Creator with natural rights.
- Among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.
- The people are sovereign, and government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.
- Religion and morality are indispensable supports of political prosperity and the duties of citizens.
The Institute offers classes and instruction on the Constitution, America’s founding documents, the lives and writings of the Founders, the American Revolution, and the importance of religion in the Founding of the American Republic—using primary sources throughout.
Study the American Founding at its sources
Three connected courses place constitutional government in the context of the ideas, people, and religious convictions that shaped the Republic.
Principles of the Constitution
Explore liberty, virtue, equality, and law through the original University of Virginia curriculum set forth by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Board of Visitors in 1825.
Read Locke, Sidney, the Declaration, selected Federalist Papers, and Washington’s Farewell Address.
Lives & Writings of the Founding Fathers
Understand self-government through the character and statesmanship of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Franklin, and Hamilton.
Study selected letters, speeches, pamphlets, autobiographies, notes, inaugural addresses, and other original documents.
Religion & the Founding of the American Republic
Explore religion’s influence on the American Founding, the Founders’ beliefs, the Enlightenment, and the relationship between religion and a virtuous Republic.
Read the Virginia Declaration of Rights, proclamations, Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance, the First Amendment, and Washington’s letters.
Board of Directors
Educators, authors, veterans, and civic leaders committed to careful teaching and enduring principles.
J. David Gowdy
Attorney, author, and founder of the Virginia Institute for American History. His work centers on liberty, equality, the Constitution, and the Founders’ primary sources.
Mr. Gowdy received his B.A. from Kansas State University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D. from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, graduating cum laude. He has practiced law, founded several businesses, and is a member of the Virginia, Texas, and California Bars. He founded the Virginia Institute for American History in 2004 and, from 2007 to 2022, sponsored continuing-education courses for secondary-school teachers on the American Founding, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the lives and writings of the Founders. He is the author of Seven Principles of Liberty, Jefferson & Madison’s Guide to the Constitution, and All Men are Created Equal: America’s Defining Creed, and serves on the Board of the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society.
John David Brandt
West Point graduate, Army veteran, finance educator, and co-founder of the Religious Liberty Center at Wesley Chapel.
Mr. Brandt received his B.S. in Applied Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and his M.B.A. in Finance from Loyola College. He served as a Captain and Company Commander in the United States Army and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves. After working in several AT&T Information Systems business units, he became Associate Professor of Business and Finance at Southern Virginia University, where he teaches personal and family finance, managerial finance, personal income tax, and introduction to business.
Tony Williams
Senior Fellow at the Bill of Rights Institute, teacher, and author of books on colonial and Revolutionary America.
Mr. Williams earned his B.A. in History from Syracuse University and his M.A. in American History from Ohio State University. He previously taught high-school history for fifteen years and has written seven books on colonial and Revolutionary America, including Divided Over the Declaration, Hamilton: An American Biography, Washington & Hamilton, The Jamestown Experiment, America’s Beginnings, The Pox and the Covenant, and Hurricane of Independence. He lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.
“Deeper insights into our founding fathers and their vision for our country.”
— Martha Holt, U.S. Government Teacher, Virginia
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