Who is America's King? William Federer on Our Providential Founding artwork

Who is America's King? William Federer on Our Providential Founding

Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins

July 22, 2026

What made America different from every kingdom that came before it? Bestselling author and American Minute founder Bill Federer joins Refining Rhetoric for our Celebrating 250 Years series to trace the improbable, providential story of the American experiment.
Speakers: Robert Bortins, Bill Federer
**SPEAKER_1** (0:04)
Your organization is known world wide, and we certainly appreciate every facet that you do.

**Robert Bortins** (0:09)
I do believe in what you're doing, because I've seen it in my family.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:12)
I'm so excited about all the things that, Robert, you guys do with Classical Conversations. It's been a huge blessing for our family.

**Robert Bortins** (0:19)
Grateful for the work at Classical Conversations. You're a leader and you have been in this movement for a long time.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:24)
We love Classical Conversations. I do feel like I have a debt of gratitude to you, your family, all of CC for just the fruit that has come from CC.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:36)
I appreciate all that you guys do both through this wonderful podcast and also through Classical Conversations, which I am convinced is the best education resource out there. Thank you very much for all that you do for the cause of Christ and for our families and for our children. Really, really appreciate it.

**Robert Bortins** (0:52)
Hey, everyone, and welcome to another informative episode for Refining Rhetoric. We are celebrating 250 years of America all month of July. Today, I'm super excited to have Bill Federer here. He is a nationally known speaker, bestselling author and president of the American Minute, a publishing company dedicated to researching America's noble heritage. He's contributed or written over 30 books. He's a frequent guest on TV, radio, and podcasts. He produces the How We Got Here video series on turningpointed.com.
He has an American Minute feature in his broadcasts daily on radio and on the Internet, and his fake and history television airs on TCT Network. So, Bill, you got a lot going on. You know a lot about history, so we're excited to have you on the show.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:38)
Welcome.

**Bill Federer** (1:39)
Well, it's great to be with you.

**Robert Bortins** (1:41)
So as we celebrate America at this 250th anniversary, what are some of those things in your research that you want Americans to remember?

**Bill Federer** (1:51)
Yeah, well, in world history, writing was invented around 3000 or 4000 BC, Sumerian cuneiform on clay tablets in the Mesopotamian Valley. And from the beginning of the invention of writing, the most common form of government in world history is kings. They go by different names, pharaohs, Caesar, Kaiser, sultan, czar. A king is a glorified gang leader. It's a hierarchal system. If you're friends with the king, you're more equal. If you're not friends with the king, you're less equal. If you're an enemy of the king, you're dead. It's called treason or you're a slave. That's the norm. These kingdoms keep getting bigger because with the latest military advancement, kings can kill more people. So instead of cane killing, they will go with a rock. They go with a bronze weapon, iron weapon, failing spear, scimitar sword, gunpowder. Weapon keeps improving, but it's that same fallen nature. Until finally, the king of England had the biggest empire on the planet. The sun never set on the British Empire. He had India, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, British Guiana, Canada, Barbados, Urbana, Jamaica, and America. And America's founders decided they did not like a globalist, one world government king telling us what to do. And so they broke away and flipped it, made the people the king. So America is an experiment of a polarity change in the flow of power. It's at a top down, ruled by kings issuing mandates saying bow to my statue or I'm going to throw you in the fiery furnace or whatever. It's a bottom up form of government.
Now, where did America's founders get these ideas?
A little Magna Carta, a little Age of Enlightenment, John Locke. Before that, the Roman Republic was 600 senators. Before that, the Athenian democracy was 6,000 citizens. Before that, ancient Israel. Around 1400 BC, millions of Israelites come out of Egypt. And for four centuries, no king. It's literally the first instance in all of human history with millions of people and no king.
And they went from slavery, they couldn't even read. And suddenly, they get downloaded, this most unique form of government, so contrary to human nature. And it worked because every citizen was taught the law and every citizen could read it for themselves. So Egypt had 3000 hieroglyphs. Only 1% of Egypt could read. When Moses comes down the mountain, he has the law in a 22-character alphabet. So easy to learn, kids could read. So ancient Israel was the first literate populace. And they're all taught the law. And they're all following the law because three things. There is a God who's watching you. He wants you to be fair. And he's gonna hold you accountable in the future. So you're about to steal, nobody's around. Then you think God is watching. He wants me to be fair. He's gonna hold me accountable. Maybe I should hesitate. Creates a little thing in your head called the conscience. If everybody believes this, you can maintain order with no king. This was studied by the Pilgrims and the Puritans. And they called it a covenant form of government. So every individual gets rights from the Creator. You're fair to your neighbor because you're accountable to the Creator.

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