From an acclaimed historian, a revelatory account of the Declaration of Independence, centered not on the lofty preamble but on the specific grievances that make up the bulk of the document and that offer an entirely new view into the Revolutionary era. 

Historian Robert G. Parkinson points out that the Declaration was not written as a timeless statement of political philosophy. It was, rather, produced in the heat of a confusing, bloody and desperate war. And in that moment, it wasn’t high ideals alone that drove the patriots forward. Parkinson’s great innovation is to allow us, 250 years on, to see the Declaration as its authors did. For them, the opening paragraphs were not the main event. It was the body of the Declaration — the 27 grievances against King George — that formed the essential part. Even Thomas Jefferson would have been puzzled by history’s fixation on his opening sentences. 

Parkinson takes us into the grievances, giving us stories of the Revolutionary era that are little known today but loomed large for the patriots. As the leaders of the Revolution saw it, they had been pushed to the breaking point by British officials who undermined colonial legislatures and courts, corrupted the judiciary, turned military power against civilians, inflamed slave revolts, forced colonists to fight one another — ultimately, waging war on their own people. 

In his brilliantly original reading of the Declaration, Parkinson asks fundamental questions that have too often been overlooked: Why did the colonies declare independence when they did? What were their nonnegotiable demands? Who were the individuals whose actions made reconciliation impossible? By recovering the people and conflicts behind the Declaration’s grievances, Parkinson offers a strikingly new account of the American Revolution — and shows that the issues that most alarmed colonists in 1776 are urgent once again today.

Parkinson is professor of history at Binghamton University. He is the author of “The Common Cause,” “Thirteen Clocks,” and “Heart of American Darkness.” He lives in Charles Town, West Virginia. 

This lecture series is presented in connection with “Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution,” an exhibit at the Princeton University Library which runs through July 12. 

Free and open to all. No registration required. 

Supported by a Special Grant from the Humanities Council’s Ruth and Sid Lapidus ’59 Research Fellowships Fund. 

Sponsored by Labyrinth Books, the Department of History, The Humanities Council and the Princeton Public Library.