Wales, Welsh Identity, Richard Price, and the Declaration of Independence

Show notes

In this episode, we explore the influence of Wales and Welsh immigrants on the Declaration of Independence with two expert guests from the University of Cardiff, Dr. Marion Loeffler and Dr. Huw Williams.

Topics include:

-the importance of preserving and expanding Welsh language and identity in the present

-an exploration of Welsh identity in the 1700s

-the tradition of Welsh religious dissenters which meshed with political non-conformity

-economic and political similarities and differences between Wales and Ireland in the 1700s

-confusions and conflations between English and Welsh identity

-an introduction to the Welsh philosopher Richard Price and his influence on Patriot political theory

-his pamphlet, Observations on Civil Liberty, which was published in Philadelphia the same week as the Declaration of Independence

-implications of both the French Revolution and the American Revolution for Wales

-differences between Price and the radical Welsh dissenter Morgan John Rhys, who founded the utopian Welsh colony of Cambria in Pennsylvania in 1794