I do declare.

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I do declare.

The Declaration of Independence is many things -- it is a radical document, an expression of the American mind, an ordinance of succession, a universal declaration of human rights. There are a lot of big ideas contained in a very few words -- what stuck with you after listening to our episode?

Danielle Allen says there’s a big question the Declaration of Independence must answer. What is that question? *

1 point

Why King George has been taxing the colonies.

What justifies the decision to undergo a revolution?

Which of the founding fathers will be the leader of this new nation.

The American Revolutionary War officially began with battles at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, but the colonies didn’t decide to revolt out of the blue! There were 150 years of salutary neglect behind their decision. What is salutary neglect? *

1 point

The unofficial policy of not enforcing British rule in America.

British kings politely refusing to send goods overseas to the colonies.

Colonists ignoring British rule because they were too far away to get punished for it.

The taxes were bad, sure, but there are lots of stories of American colonists being discriminated against by people who were actually from Britain. What was the name of the soldier who got mocked for asking for a British Commission? *

1 point

Edward Braddock

Alexander Hamilton

George Washington

Colonists joined the rebellion against the British for all sorts of reasons -- what would Woody Holton say was the kick in the pants for white southerners in particular? *

1 point

British officials were emancipating enslaved people to gain their support.

The British were taking over cotton plantations to quarter soldiers.

Britain stopped ordering rum from the colonies, so the triangle trade was interrupted.

One of the best-known phrases in the Declaration says that our unalienable rights are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This idea comes from a philosopher named John Locke. Except Locke would say the framers got it kind of wrong. What are the original unalienable rights? *

1 point

Life, autonomy, and the pursuit of happiness.

Freedom, representation, and the pursuit of happiness.

Life, liberty, and property.

There was a pro-slavery, anti-slavery division among the committee of five who worked on the Declaration of Independence. We know this in part because an earlier draft contained what grievance that was removed to make one side happy. *

1 point

King George engaged in the slave trade.

The British were hypocrites for buying our rum but condemning our slave plantations.

We did not have control over the laws governing our slave trade.

Woody Holton calls the “all men are created equal” phrase a “yada yada” line. A throwaway line that the writers didn’t necessarily mean. It’s now foundational to our understanding of American liberties. When did Americans begin to point to this phrase as a justification for equality for all? *

1 point

Immediately. Before the end of 1776, African American soldier Lemuel Haynes had already written an essay about it.

The first debates about it happened in 1787 when the framers gathered to write the Constitution in Philadelphia.

Abraham Lincoln was the first to formally point to this phrase during the Civil War.

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