Politics
Conservative Supreme Court Justices Warn to Preserve American Freedom ‘You Need to Know Its History’
Three conservative Supreme Court Justices partnered with the Federalist Society to speak about the 250th anniversary of the United States of America and why they believe the key to preserving its freedoms for the future lies in understanding its past.
The Justices appointed by President Donald Trump — Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — sat for separate interviews to be shared at the organization’s 2026 National Lawyers Convention spotlighting “250 Years of American Exceptionalism,” which began Thursday, November 12.
In the short video, obtained by Fox News, Trump’s 2017 appointee, Justice Gorsuch, cautioned Americans against taking their freedoms for granted.
“They are, for us, a little bit like the air we breathe and the water a fish might swim in. They seem natural to us, but they weren’t in 1776,” he said, pointing out that American ideals “were not popular” and seen as “radical” and a “threat to Europe” at the time.
![Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 23, 2021. Seated from left: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Stephen G. Breyer, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Elena Kagan, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Neil M. Gorsuch and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Amy Coney Barrett. Credit: Erin Schaff / Pool via CNP. 23 Apr 2021 Pictured: Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 23, 2021. Seated from left: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Stephen G. Breyer, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Elena Kagan, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Neil M. Gorsuch and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Amy Coney Barrett. Credit: Erin Schaff / Pool via CNP. Photo credit: Erin Schaff - Pool via CNP / MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA749052_040.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://globemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/MEGA749052_040-scaled.jpg)
Justice Kavanaugh, appointed in 2018, made a similar argument. “I think our education system is absolutely fundamental to ensuring that in the next 250 years we preserve this republic and improve upon this republic,” he said.
“Teaching American history, teaching the values of this country … why this country exists, how this country has been preserved, how this country has been improved,” Kavanaugh continued. “I think all of us should be constantly striving to ensure civics education, not only for our youth, but for all of us.”
2020 appointee Justice Barret said, “I might suggest that people look at the last line of the Declaration of Independence. It ends with a mutual pledge in which the signatories to the document mutually pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the success of the American project.”
“Surely that’s the kind of commitment that it takes to have it keep going forward,” she added. “So I think commitment to country, commitment to one another is what will be necessary to keep the American project going forward.”
The Federalist Society is a nonprofit organization focused on uniting conservatives, libertarians and moderates dedicated to its three primary focuses of the preservation of freedom, separation of powers, and judicial restraint, as detailed by the UCLA School of Law.
