FYSEMR 47U Declarations of Independence: The Political Philosophy of the American Revolution

Taught by David Armitage

As the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence approaches in 2026, this seminar will examine that familiar document in some unfamiliar context. At the same time, it will provide a focused introduction to the development of modern ideas of rights, nationality, and statehood and will encourage students to place the United States in historical perspective and within an international context. The Declaration drew upon two centuries of arguments justifying rebellion, secession, and rights. It spoke to concerns and arguments arising out of contemporary British and American political thought. It was also the culmination of a series of similar declarations from colonies and towns and of a series of manifestos and papers issued by the Continental Congress. The seminar will examine these other documents, along with the successive versions of the Declaration in manuscript and print, in order to understand the political philosophy of the American Revolution. It will then examine the earliest replies to the Declaration, the many other American declarations of independence during the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the various translations, imitations, and analogues of the American Declaration produced by later nationalist, secessionist, and anti-colonial movements up to the present.