Episode Details

The Declaration of Independence turns 250 this year, and most Americans have never heard the full story of how it came to exist. Historian Dan Miller joins Chris Spangle to trace the forgotten gestational period of American democracy, from the Continental Association's economic boycott in 1774 to the moment communities across the 13 colonies first heard the Declaration read aloud in July 1776.

Miller, founder of Historical Solutions and author of the weekly Americanism Redux series, argues the Declaration is best understood not as a groundbreaking document but as a catch-up document, one scrambling to match the cultural blast pattern Thomas Paine created with "Common Sense" six months earlier. He also makes the case that the most important section of the Declaration is not the philosophical preamble or the list of grievances, but the signatures, which did not yet exist when the document was first published.

The conversation covers the role of women in the colonial boycott, Abraham Lincoln's discovery of consent as the core American principle, and why Lincoln located the birth of the union in September 1774, not July 1776. Miller also previews a forthcoming episode on George Washington's four pivotal goodbyes and what they reveal about leadership.

Dan Miller is the founder of Historical Solutions in Indianapolis. His weekly column, Americanism Redux, is available at historicalsolutions.com.

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