Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 250 Years of the Declaration of Independence

"He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation."

In this episode, we examine one of the most important first-person accounts of the War for Independence, Johann Ewald's American War Diaries.

Ewald was an elite Hessian Officer who spent 8 long years in North America fighting against the Patriots on behalf of King George.

Topics include the following:

-The history of mercenaries or subsidy troops...

"We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America...do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved. "

In this episode, we take a deep dive into military history and examine how both American and British military leaders understood and analyzed the tactical, strategic,...

"He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures."

In this episode we explore Grievance #4 of the Declaration of Independence and the importance of Colonial infrastructure--the roads, ports, cities, and other communication structures and information systems that helped the Colonies thrive. Topics include the following:

-the importance of the 7 Years' War in accelerating the development of infrastructure throughout the Colonies and into the interior

-the Braddock Expedition against the French in 1755

-the expansion of the...

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

In this episode, we focus on the Netherlands, the second country (after France) to acknowledge the claim made in the the Declaration of Independence, that the United States is...