Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton: “A Nation of Laws”

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Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton

"A Nation of Laws"

A resource for the 2025-2026 Georgia History Festival, A Nation of Laws: Courts and the Foundation of Freedom.

Read the questions below and click the sound files to hear the responses.

Teachers:
View the Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton Discussion Guide.

Soundbite 1 –

What does "A Nation of Laws" mean?
Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 2 –

What is an Independent Judiciary?
Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 3 –

Where did the idea for the Supreme Court come from?
Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 4 –

How was the Constitution written to change and reflect the people of America?
Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 5 –

Why do the Supreme Court justices serve life terms?
Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 6 –

Why are there nine Supreme Court justices? Were there always nine?
Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 7 –

Why does the Supreme Court reverse decisions? What happens when a decision is reversed?
Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 8 –

What are the Landmark Court Cases and how have they remained relevant?
Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 9 –

What are some notable Georgia court cases that have reached the US Supreme Court?
Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 10 –

How does the Supreme Court enforce their decisions?
Questions for Discussion

Pictured: U.S. Supreme Court Crowds, July 8, 1974. Library of Congress.

Georgia Day Video: Exploring the Georgia Colony’s Founding and Early Development

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Video and Audio

Georgia Day Video: Exploring the Georgia Colony’s Founding and Early Development

In recognition of the anniversary of Georgia’s founding, this short online program is a visual exploration of the colony’s founding and early development. Featuring greetings from friends and leaders across the state, this all-ages presentation includes classroom resources for varying grade levels connecting the video content to the Georgia History Festival theme.

Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton: “Hear it now; see it tonight; read about it tomorrow.”

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Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton

“Hear it now; see it tonight; read about it tomorrow.”

A resource for the 2024-2025 Georgia History Festival, “The Reality of Our Liberty”: The First Amendment and Freedom of the Press.

Read the questions below and click the sound files to hear the responses.

Teachers:
View the Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton Discussion Guide.

Soundbite 1 –

The context for the phrase “the reality of our liberty.”

Welcome to our conversation with Dr. Stan Deaton, Senior Historian and Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian, at the Georgia Historical Society. The Festival title was inspired by a quote by President Thomas Jefferson.

Dr. Deaton, would you give some background for this statement?

Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 2 –

Why was freedom of the press important to the Founders?

 As Americans, we often take freedom of the press for granted. Would you give us some context around why the Founders considered this so vital for the new nation?

Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 3 –

The context for “Hear it now; see it tonight; read about it tomorrow.”

We’re discussing the phrase, “Hear it now, see it tonight, read about it tomorrow.” Would you provide context around this statement?

Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 4 –

The impact of radio news.

In the age of radio, what are some significant stories, to Georgians and Americans?

Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 5 –

Hearing news in the 21st century.

 How has consuming our information through hearing changed over time?

Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 6 –

The impact of television news.

What is the context of “see it tonight”?

Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 7 –

From 30 minutes to 24 hours.

How has the evolution from three basic television stations to several 24-hour networks affected the news?

Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 8 –

Georgia stories on television.

What are some Georgia stories that have impacted us through television?

Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 9 –

The impact of newspapers across the centuries.

Currently, we can read all day long about the events of the day on the internet. However, “read about it tomorrow” refers to an earlier time. What has the role of newspapers been in our history?

Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 10 –

Editorializing vs. Newsgathering

When did our newspapers start to shift from partisan toward the neutrality of “just the facts”?

Questions for Discussion

Soundbite 11 –

Investigative journalism and the safeguarding of liberty.

Joseph Pulitzer, owner of The New York World, and founder of The Pulitzer Prize for journalism, said:

“[I]t’s my duty to see that they get the truth; but that’s not enough, I’ve got to put it before them briefly so that they will read it, clearly so that they will understand it, forcibly so that they will appreciate it, picturesquely so that they will remember it, and, above all, accurately so that they may be wisely guided by its light.”

Under Pulitzer’s leadership investigative journalism, and the career of Nellie Bly was launched. This brings us back to the Founders and their idea that a press free from government control has the responsibility to inform and educate the public about the actions of elected officials and business leaders so they can be held accountable to the American people.

Questions for Discussion
For further investigation:

Select a news story from the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s and find the coverage across the newspaper, radio, and television. Make sure to find the same date or within a couple of days of each other. Compare and contrast how each outlet presented the story.

Pictured: Family watching television. Photo by Evert F. Baumgardner, ca. 1958. National Archives and Records Administration.

Reconstruction in Georgia

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Video and Audio

Reconstruction in Georgia

This online program is an expansion of the 2023 Georgia Day video and includes a more in-depth exploration of the 2022-2023 Georgia History Festival theme, “The Promise of a More Perfect Union: Reconstruction and the Gilded Age.” In it we examine the economic, political, and social changes that Georgians faced in the tumultuous period of the half century following the Civil War and feature some of the most significant themes, events, and individuals associated with this pivotal period of American history.

An Evening With Annette Gordon-Reed

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Video and Audio

An Evening With Annette Gordon-Reed

Join the Georgia Historical Society as author and historian Annette Gordon-Reed is inducted as the newest Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Teaching Fellow. Following the induction, enjoy a lively conversation with this award-winning author about her groundbreaking work and its impact on modern scholarship.

The Georgia Trustees

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Video and Audio

The Georgia Trustees

Learn about Georgia Historical Society's Georgia Trustees.

Georgia Day 2022

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Video and Audio

Georgia Day 2022

In recognition of the anniversary of Georgia’s founding, this short online program is a visual exploration of the 2022 Georgia History Festival theme highlighting the important roles that location and geography have played in the development of Georgia throughout its history—and the impact that Georgia’s people have had on the land. Featuring greetings from friends and leaders across the state, this all-ages presentation includes classroom resources for guided listening by Georgia students.

We Believe

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Video and Audio

We Believe

Learn about the beliefs and principles of the Georgia Historical Society.

An Evening with Rick Atkinson

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Video and Audio

An Evening with Rick Atkinson

Join the Georgia Historical Society as author and historian Rick Atkinson is inducted as the  2019 Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Teaching Fellow. Following the induction, enjoy a lively discussion between Atkinson and Dr. Stan Deaton, the Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian at the Georgia Historical Society, about Atkinson’s book, The British are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777.

An Evening with David Blight

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Video and Audio

An Evening with David Blight

On November 8, 2018, the Georgia Historical Society hosted a special program with Dr. David W. Blight for the debut of his new book, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (Simon & Schuster), in Savannah. Dr. Blight is one of the country’s most renowned historians of slavery and the Civil War era. He is the Class of 1954 Professor of American History and the Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. This program featured a discussion between Dr. Blight and the Georgia Historical Society’s Dr. Stan Deaton about Blight’s groundbreaking new biography of Frederick Douglass, and Douglass’s role in American history. The evening included Dr. Blight's induction as the inaugural Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Teaching Fellow by GHS President and CEO Dr. W. Todd Groce and Vince Dooley.