Virtue is excellence.
In his First Inaugural Address, George Washington declared that within human nature there exists an “indissoluble union between virtue and happiness.” This was more than a personal reflection—it was an affirmation of a principle deeply woven into early American political thought. For Washington and his contemporaries, “virtue” was not merely a private moral quality; it was an essential public necessity for the success of a self-governing regime.
The word virtue has deep roots in classical thought, particularly in the works of Aristotle. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defines virtue (aretē) as a habit of choosing the mean between extremes, guided by reason, aimed at achieving eudaimonia—a life of flourishing and genuine happiness.
In the classical context, virtue is both moral and practical: courage, moderation, and justice are not merely abstract or admirable traits, but conditions for living well. If you want to be happy, then you must be virtuous.
Early Americans inherited this understanding and applied it to politics. In a republic, where power rests ultimately with the people themselves, private virtue becomes public necessity. Without virtuous citizens—those capable of self-restraint, honesty, courage, wisdom, moderation with regard to appetites, and justice—freedom will degenerate into license and factional conflict. James Madison, in Federalist #55, observed that while “there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust,” republican government ultimately presupposes “sufficient virtue among men for self-government.”
The Founders often linked virtue to liberty and happiness. Liberty was not mere license to do anything one pleased, but the condition in which individuals, free from arbitrary coercion, could pursue virtuous lives. Happiness, as Washington suggested, was not fleeting pleasure but durable well-being—a life well-ordered by moral principles. Public virtue, therefore, was indispensable to both private fulfillment and political stability.
This view shaped American institutions. The emphasis on education in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, for example, was explicitly tied to promoting “religion, morality, and knowledge”—seen as necessary to “good government and the happiness of mankind.” Washington, in his Farewell Address, famously argued that religion and morality are “indispensable supports” to political prosperity, underscoring how virtue was seen as the bedrock of republican life.
With the idea of virtue in mind, in an influential 1776 sermon, Samuel West distinguished liberty from licentiousness, concluding “where licentiousness begins, liberty ends.”
In short, virtue in early American political thought—echoing Aristotle—was both a personal moral achievement and a civic duty. It was the quality that made self-government possible and happiness sustainable. The Founders’ enduring insight was that liberty without virtue leads not to flourishing but to chaos and tyranny. Their solution was not to abandon liberty but to cultivate virtue, trusting that free people, properly educated and morally grounded, could govern themselves and live well.
FAQ
No. Waypoints is not a lesson-plan warehouse. It is a curated library of primary sources paired with tutorials that deepen content knowledge and strengthen instruction. There are no student-facing lesson-plans; there are tutorials for teachers. For teachers, Waypoints is more like graduate school than a set of prepared lesson plans.
The Home Plan is ideal for individual learners and homeschooling families.
Organizer and Educator accounts can access the tutorials. Student accounts cannot.
Waypoints is a digital platform for learning and teaching built around beautifully published Primary Source Documents and Teacher Tutorials that reinforce selected Key Ideas of Liberty.
The Home Plan is $199 per year and includes an Organizer account, up to two Educator accounts, and up to four Student accounts.
Yes. Many people use the Home Plan simply for their own access to the Library and Tutorials. If you are a lifelong learner, the Home Plan is for you.
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Student accounts can access the Library of primary source documents.
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Educators receive tutorials that illuminate the documents, deepen subject-matter knowledge, and support stronger classroom instruction.
You can go to the Waypoints Library and see the list of titles we have curated stretching across subjects such as American history, political thought, philosophy, economics, and citizenship.
Not yet. Additional titles are being prepared and published on a rolling basis. We will let members know when as more documents are published and uploaded to the Library.
Yes. Waypoints is designed to enrich and elevate existing instruction, especially in history, civics, government, and related courses. A teacher does not need to abandon the textbooks, lesson plans, or other curricula materials that have been used for past instruction. Waypoints is designed as an add-on to the materials teachers have been using and assigning to students.
