Declaration of American Independence in 1776

Professor Max Edling of King’s College London explains how the message of the
US Declaration of Independence has been misinterpreted.
About this Event

Historians of the American founding have long puzzled over the discrepancy between the alleged ideals of the American Revolution and the social and political reality of the early republic. The Declaration of Independence claimed that all men were created equal and were endowed with God-given rights. Yet the society that emerged from American independence was built on hierarchy and discrimination. This lecture reexamines the political thought of the founding generation and argues that common assumptions about American founding ideals have been misrepresented.