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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...

"Wir halten diese Wahrheiten für ausgemacht, daß alle Menschen gleich erschaffen worden, daß sie von ihrem Schöpfer mit gewissen unveräusserlichen Rechten begabt worden, worunter sind Leben, Freiheit und das Streben nach Glückseligkeit."

-from one of the first German translations of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, July 1776

In this episode, we explore the role of Germanic immigrants in the American Revolution. Topics include:

-the first reports and publications of the Declaration in German by Philadelphia printers, such as Heinrich Miller

-German literacy and German-language print-culture in the Colonies

-push factors influencing emigration our of Germanic territories, including economic, agricultural, political,...

"A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

In this episode, we explore the Boston Tea Party, the global tea industry, British-American perceptions of tyrannical governments in Asia, and the Declaration of Independence.

Topics include the following:

-the connotations of the word "tyranny" in the Colonies

-the presumption in the Britain and the Colonies that "freedom" only meant being Protestant and living in a constitutional monarchy

-the East India Company, the tea trade, the cotton trade, and the Mughal Empire

-Colonial American consumer...

"I would be prepared to accept the status of independence for Cyprus on the condition that this status shall not be changed, either by union with Greece, by partition, or by any other way, unless the United Nations approves such a change." Archbishop Makarios, September 1958

In this episode, we explore connections between the American struggle for independence from Britain in 1776 and the Cypriot struggle for independence from Britain nearly 200 years later.

Here is a list of key terms, organizations, and people:

ENOSIS: the union of Cyprus with Greece
TAKSIM: the partition of Cyprus between Turkish and Greek...

""At this very time, they are permitting their chief magistrate to send over not only soldiers of our common blood, but SCOTCH and foreign Mercenaries to invade and deluge us in blood." -From Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of Independence

In this episode, we survey the history and importance of Scotland and Scottish people in Revolutionary America.

Topics include:

-anti-Scottish sentiment in the Colonies, particularly among Southern planters, like Jefferson, who were indebted to Scottish tobacco traders

-the origins of the "Pursuit of Happiness" in the Scottish Enlightenment

-explanations of Scots and the Scotch-Irish

-push and pull factors driving...

“The Mexican Nation, which for three hundred years has not had its own will, nor the free use of its voice, rises today from the oppression in which it has lived… [The Mexican Nation] solemnly declares, through its Supreme Junta of the Empire, that it is a Sovereign Nation and independent from old Spain, with which, in the future, it will not maintain another union but that of a close friendship, in the terms prescribed by international treaties…”

-Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire (1821)

In today's episode, we explore the actual and perceived influence of the American Revolution...

"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 discuss the historical and philosophical origins of the Declaration of Independence.

Topics include:

-an explanation of the importance of John Locke, natural rights, and natural...

"Happiness" is mentioned twice in the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence, but what does it mean?

In this episode, Prof. Darrin McMahon, best-selling author of _Happiness: A History_, outlines the history of happiness and its various meanings.

Topics include:

-the history of the word in English and other languages

-happiness in the classical Greek and Roman philosophical traditions

-happiness in the Judeo-Christian and Buddhist traditions

-Enlightenment concepts of human happiness from thinkers like John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, William Blackstone, and Isaac Newton

-the opposition between happiness and suffering in the Declaration

-happiness in the Epicurean and Stoic traditions...

In this episode, we discuss the rum industry in connection with grievances #16 and #17 in the Declaration of Independence:

"For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world"

"For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent"

Topics include the following:

-an explanation of rum production, from sugarcane to the finished product

-the origins of sugarcane and rum production in Barbados in the early 1600s

-the development of distilleries in the Colonies, particularly Massachusetts, in the late 1600s

-rum consumption in the Colonies by people in cities, slave traders, fishermen, and native Americans

-the use of rum as...