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

"(He has) cut off our trade with all parts of the world. (He has) imposed taxes on us without our consent."--Grievances #16 and #17

In this episode, we explore the importance of climate, the environment, and natural disasters in the British Caribbean during the revolutionary period. Topics include the following:

-similarities and differences between the 13 rebellious colonies and the other British Caribbean colonies

-the general approach of studying history through an environmental lens

-the impact of droughts, hurricanes, and earthquakes on early American and British Caribbean history

-the impact of the environment on disease and disease recovery, as seen...

"He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare...is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where Men should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce. And..he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms...

In this episode, we explore the links between the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) and the American War for Independence.

Topics include the following:

-Thomas Jefferson's life-long interest in Ancient Greek philosophy and political thought

-the broad influence of Ancient Greek thinkers on all of the American Founders

-an overview of Greek history, including the Orlov Revolt from 1770-1771

-the state of "Greece" in 1776

-Ottoman control over Greek/Christian communities and the slow realization in the 18th century that as the might of the Ottoman Empire declined there were opportunities to seek independence, particularly with the help of other European...

"'All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.' This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free." Ho Chi Minh, 2 September 1945

Today we explore the influence of the American Declaration of Independence on Vietnamese Independence, as seen in Ho's explicit references to the...