The Declaration of Independence is one of the most iconic documents in United States history. But what do we really know about how it came to be?

In our most recent episode, historian Emily Sneff helped us explore the Declaration through your questions–questions that revealed just how complex, living, and contested this document still is.

So in today’s Revisited episode, we take a listen to the podcast that Emily helped to produce back in 2017: Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft.

Originally part of the Omohundro Institute’s Doing History: To the Revolution! Series, this episode features three distinguished scholars: Danielle Allen, Patrick Spero, and Peter Onuf, Together, these scholars reveal that many hands and minds shaped the Declaration of Independence. They also help us dive into some of the document’s contradictions around slavery and equality.

Emily’s Website 

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/415
 
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 018: Our Declaration
🎧 Episode 245: Celebrating the Fourth
🎧 Episode 277: Whose Fourth of July?
🎧 Episode 388: John Hancock
🎧 Episode 394: The Pursuit of Happiness
🎧 Episode 415: The Many Declarations of Independence

REQUEST A TOPIC
📨 Topic Request Form
📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.com

WHEN YOU'RE READY
🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter
👩‍💻 BFW Listener Community
🌍 The History Explorers Club

LISTEN 🎧
🍎 Apple Podcasts 
💚 Spotify 
🎶 Amazon Music
🛜 Pandora

CONNECT
🦋 Liz on Bluesky
👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn
🛜 Liz’s Website

SAY THANKS
💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
💚 Leave a rating on Spotify

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices