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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

By: Andrew Sola and Amerikazentrum-Hamburg
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 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.Andrew Sola & Amerikazentrum Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • Creating "THE PEOPLE": Whig Legal Concepts plus Lessons from Ireland and Spanish America

    Creating "THE PEOPLE": Whig Legal Concepts plus Lessons from Ireland and Spanish America
    Oct 30 2025
    "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for ONE PEOPLE to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another..." "Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of THE PEOPLE to alter or to abolish it..." In this episode, we explore the creation of the legal concept of THE PEOPLE with the right to overthrow their government. Topics include : -the tension in the British Empire between Whigs, who valued popular parliamentary power, and the Tories, who valued centralized royal power -the organic development of the colonial legal system from a semi-formal, ad-hoc lay profession to a sophisticated, complex formal profession -the evolution of legal arguments from those that justified dissent and resistance (1764-1774) to those that justified revolution and rebellion (1775-1776) -legal lessons that American colonists learned from the harshness of British rule over Ireland -legal lessons that American colonists learned from the corporatist model in Spanish America -the Whig legal strategy to be broad in its definition of THE PEOPLE in order to include different social classes, different geographical regions, and different understandings of the law (from common, everyday concepts of rights and justice to highly technical concepts derived from constitutional law and legal scholarship)
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • African-Americans in Spanish Florida and the Declaration of Independence

    African-Americans in Spanish Florida and the Declaration of Independence
    Oct 16 2025
    This episode explores the complexity of Florida's colonial history, its relationship to African-Americans, and its importance during the War of Independence. Our expert guest is Prof. Jane Landers (Vanderbilt University), who is also the Director of the Slave Societies Digital Archive. Topics include: -The importance of remembering African-American history in Spanish America -An overview of Spanish colonial history, which is much older than Anglo-American history that began in Jamestown in 1619 -Spain's religious sanctuary policy, which granted African-American slaves freedom in Florida as far back as 1687 -The first Underground Railroad for enslaved Blacks, which led south to Spanish Florida not north -The different models of slavery in Spanish colonies and the different ways enslaved people could free themselves -The complex political, religious, economic, and military structures in Spanish colonies -Indigenous migration from Anglo colonies to Spanish Florida -The War of Jenkins' Ear (1739-1748) and the Battle of Bloody Mose (1740) near St. Augustine, during which free Africans fought with Spain to protect their freedom -Spanish Florida during the French and Indian War (the Seven Years' War) -The cession of Florida to Britain at the end of the War in 1763 and the subsequent migration of Carolina farmers with roughly 9,000 enslaved African-Americans to Florida and then the later transfer of additional enslaved Africans from Africa -The exile of free Blacks from Florida to Cuba in 1763-64 -Spain's support of American Patriots in the War of Independence -The deployment of exiled free Blacks, who had left Florida for Spanish-Cuba in 1763, to fight the British in Pensacola in 1777 -The return of Florida to Spain in 1784 -The drive by the US both to eliminate free black culture in Florida and also to institute a slave economy there -The transfer of Florida to the new United States in 1821 and the second exile of free Blacks from Florida to other Spanish colonies -An analysis of the phrase "all men are created equal" through the lens of the free inhabitants of Spanish Florida
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    50 mins
  • Canada's Rejection of Independence, Part 2: The Invasion (or Attempted Liberation) of Canada

    Canada's Rejection of Independence, Part 2: The Invasion (or Attempted Liberation) of Canada
    Oct 2 2025
    In the second of our 2-episode series about Canada and the Declaration of Independence, historian Mark R. Anderson talks us through the invasion of "the neighbouring Province" of Canada as well as the third and final letter from the Continental Congress to the Inhabitants of Canada. Topics include: -The formation of the Continental Army in June of 1775 and the appointment of General Schuyler to invade (or liberate) Canada -A description of the explanations offered by the Americans to the Canadas for the invasion, namely to protect their property rights and religious freedom, as well as to free them from oppression -The redrawing of Canadian political opinion from British vs French sympathies to Loyalist vs. Patriot sympathies as a result of the invasion -An overview of the Canadians who took up arms to fight with the 13 Colonies -The official end of the invasion of Canada on 1 July 1776, just days before the Declaration of Independence -John Adams's position that Canada would have joined the United Colonies had the Declaration been released at the start of the invasion and had ineffective politicians in Congress supported the invasion in a robust way -The Canadian response to the Declaration of Independence -The exile of the two Canadian regiments who supported the American army -An overview of British (Canadian) Invasions of the United States -Canadian reactions to the American victory in the Revolutionary War The painting depicts the death of the American General Richard Montgomery, who was killed during the assault on Quebec City in December 1775.
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    42 mins
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