Shows / Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of Independence
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of Independence
Learn more about the Declaration of Independence for the 250-year anniversary with this interdisciplinary podcast, featuring experts from the USA and around the world. The series is produced and hosted by Dr. Andrew Sola and the Amerikazentrum, Hamburg.
Episodes
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceSlavery in Jamaica, Tacky's Revolt, and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Dr. Natalie Zacek (University of Manchester) "He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceClimate, the Environment, and Natural Disasters in the British Caribbean
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Mary Draper (Midwestern State U.) "(He has) cut off our trade with all parts of the world. (He has) imposed taxes on us without our…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependencePlantation Economies and Slavery in the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Paul Musselwhite (Dartmouth U.) "He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceGreek Independence and the American Revolution
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Nicholas Doumanis (U. of Illinois-Chicago) In this episode, we explore the links between the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829)…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceVietnamese Independence and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Peter Zinoman (UCal-Berkeley) "'All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceGerman Immigrants and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Aaron Fogleman (Northern Illinois University) "Wir halten diese Wahrheiten für ausgemacht, daß alle Menschen gleich erschaffen…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceTea, Tyranny, and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Jonathon Eacott (UCal-Riverside) "A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceCyprus and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Andrekos Varnava (Flinders University) "I would be prepared to accept the status of independence for Cyprus on the condition that…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceScotland and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Francis Cogliano (U. of Edinburgh) "At this very time, they are permitting their chief magistrate to send over not only soldiers of…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceDid the American Revolution Really Influence Spanish American Revolutions?
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Roberto Breña (El Colegio de México) “The Mexican Nation, which for three hundred years has not had its own will, nor the free use…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceJefferson and the Intellectual Origins of the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Steven Sarson (U. of Lyon) "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceWhat Does the "Pursuit of Happiness" Mean?
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Darrin McMahon (Dartmouth U.) "Happiness" is mentioned twice in the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence, but what does…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceHow Did Rum Influence the Declaration of Independence?
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Jordan B. Smith (Widener University) In this episode, we discuss the rum industry in connection with grievances #16 and #17 in the…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceWhy Did Americans Remain Loyal to King George? Revolutionary Politics in New York City
with Andrew Sola and Dr. Christopher Minty (University of Virginia) "He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceRevolution 250: America's Independence Story at The National Archives
with Andrew Sola, Dr. Graham Moore, and Dr. Sean Cunningham In this episode we explore the Revolution 250 exhibit at The National Archives in Kew, from 24 June…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceCreating the Continental Army: Civil-Military Relations in the 1700s
with Andrew Sola and Dr. Jon Chandler (University College London) "He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceJohann Ewald's American War Diaries: A Hessian's Memoir of the War for Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. James McIntyre (Moraine Valley CC) "He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceMilitary Strategies from Lexington and Concord to the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola, Seth M. Cannon (US Air Force), and Richard 'Dickie' Sernberg (British Army) "We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceColonial Infrastructure and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Alec Z. Reichardt (U. of Missouri) "He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceThe Netherlands and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Matthijs Tieleman (Illinois State U.) "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceFrance and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. François Furstenberg (Johns Hopkins U.) "We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America…solemnly publish and…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceAbigail Adams and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Hobson Woodward (Massachusetts Historical Society-Adams Family Papers Project) "Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of Independence"What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?": Black America and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Michael Dickinson (Virginia Commonwealth U.) The phrase, ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, is complicated when viewed from the perspective…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependencePrivateering, Boycotts, and Slavery in the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. James Fichter (U. of Hong Kong) "He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceImpressment and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Denver Brunsman (George Washington U.) "He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceWhy Did Colonial Americans Oppose Standing Armies in Their Cities?
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Donald F. Johnson (North Dakota State U.) "He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of Independence"Enemies in War, in Peace Friends": Declaring the First American Civil War
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Serena Zabin (Carleton College) "Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren…They too have been deaf to the…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of Independence"We Pledge Our Fortunes": Money and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Dr. Andrew Edwards (U. of St. Andrews) "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceWales, Welsh Identity, Richard Price, and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola, Dr. Marion Loeffler & Dr. Huw Williams (Cardiff University) In this episode, we explore the influence of Wales and Welsh immigrants on the…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceIreland and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Patrick Geoghegan (Trinity College Dublin) "Irish men and Irish women, in the name of God and of the dead generations from which she…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceCreating "THE PEOPLE": Whig Legal Concepts plus Lessons from Ireland and Spanish America
with Andrew Sola, Prof. Richard Ross (U. of Illinois) and Prof. Steven Wilf (U. of Connecticut) "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceAfrican-Americans in Spanish Florida and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Jane Landers (Vanderbilt U./Slave Societies Digital Archive) This episode explores the complexity of Florida's colonial history, its…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceCanada's Rejection of Independence, Part 2: The Invasion (or Attempted Liberation) of Canada
with Andrew Sola and Historian Mark R. Anderson In the second of our 2-episode series about Canada and the Declaration of Independence, historian Mark R…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceCanada's Rejection of Independence, Part 1: The First Two Letters to the Oppressed Inhabitants of Canada
with Andrew Sola and Historian Mark R. Anderson "For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceHaiti and the Origins of American Diplomacy in the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Ronald Angelo Johnson (Baylor University) "…and as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceThomas Paine, Common Sense, and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Nora Slonimsky (Iona University/Institute for Thomas Paine Studies) “Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceHessian Mercenaries and German Reactions to the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Dr. Charlotte Lerg (LMU-München) "He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceChicagoland in 1776
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Theodore Karamanski (Loyola U.-Chicago) How did the indigenous people of Chicagoland understand what was happening in the Colonies…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceJewish Life in the Colonies
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Tobias Brinkmann (Penn State) In this episode, Andrew Sola and Tobias Brinkmann explore the history of the earliest Jews in the…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceDaughters of Liberty: Women and the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Rosemarie Zagarri (George Mason U.) "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men AND WOMEN are created equal." Declaration…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceThe Quartering Act and Homosexuality in the Colonies
with Andrew Sola and Prof. John G. McCurdy (Eastern Michigan U.) "He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceReligion in the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Dr. Thomas S. Kidd (Midwestern Baptist Seminary) The Declaration of Independence uses the words 'God,' 'the Creator,' and 'Divine…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceThe Importance of Free Trade and Immigration in the Declaration
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Steven Pincus (U. of Chicago) "He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceNative Americans and The Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Matthew Kruer (U. of Chicago) "He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of…
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of IndependenceThomas Jefferson and the Composition of the Declaration
with Andrew Sola and Prof. Robert McDonald (US Military Academy-West Point) Who was Thomas Jefferson and how did he come to write the Declaration of…
- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of Independence
The Seven Years' War and More: Key Events before the Declaration of Independence
with Andrew Sola In this introductory episode, you will learn about some key events leading up to the Declaration of Independence. Check out additional…
- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of Independence
Teaser
In 2026, the United States of America is celebrating the 250-year anniversary of its founding, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the 4th…