Tag "Declaration of Independence"
By Editor July 28, 2023

A talk with Steve Sarson

“The ‘Course of human events’: History in the US Declaration of Independence.” Join us on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at 5:00 pm in room 201 of Blow Memorial Hall on the campus of William & Mary for a talk by Steven Sarson, scholar and most recently author of Barack Obama: American Historian. Throughout the history of the United States, reformers have deployed the Declaration’s statements… Read More

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By Editor July 28, 2023

Vast Early America Lecture with Eliga Gould

Join us on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. in Blow Hall, room 201, on the campus of William & Mary as we welcome OI author Eliga Gould (University of New Hampshire). Blow Memorial Hall is located at 262 Richmond Road. An Empire of Love:  Rethinking the American Confederation, 1776-1789 With the Declaration of Independence, Americans began creating a new federal union… Read More

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By Holly White July 02, 2020

The Many Meanings of the Fourth of July

Declaration of Independence, Dunlap Broadside (1776) Over the past few years, we’ve steadily grown our collection of readings related to U.S. Independence Day as well as Ben Franklin’s World episodes detailing the early American history of the Fourth of July. It’s time we put it all in one place.  Frederick Douglass famously questioned Americans in 1852, “What to… Read More

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By Derrick R. Spires June 30, 2020

Dreams of a Revolution Deferred

Frontispiece. Walker’s Appeal, with a Brief Sketch of His Life by Henry Highland Garnet and also Garnet’s Address to the Slaves of the United States of America. (New York: J.H. Tobitt, 1848). Library of Congress. By Derrick R. Spires For Black citizens of the early United States, the Fourth of… Read More

Ben Franklin's World 23 min read
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By Joseph M. Adelman October 15, 2019

Articles of Amendment: Copying “The” Bill of Rights

Today’s post accompanies “Creating the First Ten Amendments,” episode 260 of Ben Franklin’s World and part of Doing History 4: Understanding the Fourth Amendment. Last week as I was listening to Ben Franklin’s World, I was struck by the way in which Liz Covart and… Read More

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By Emily Sneff July 02, 2019

The Sounds of Independence

Liberty Bell, Philadelphia, National Park Service photo This post accompanies “Celebrating the Fourth,” episode 245 of Ben Franklin’s World. At the bottom of the post you can find suggested readings on celebrating independence in the early United States and a special bonus clip from Shira Lurie. by Emily Sneff The Fourth of July… Read More

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By Eliga Gould July 04, 2017

When Did America Really Become Independent?

Eliga Gould is Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire and the author most recently of Among the Powers of the Earth: The American Revolution and the Making of a New World Empire. When I teach the American Revolution, I often ask my students, when did the United States become independent? The conventional… Read More

Doing History 9 min read
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