The Declaration of Independence at 250 Years

While the Second Continental Congress boldly voted for American independence on July 2, 1776, the approval of the Declaration of Independence two days later, on July 4th, had equally momentous consequences–many of them unforeseen and unintended by the congressional delegates in Philadelphia. In addition to exploring the origins of the Declaration, Professor Voelker will consider its significance for the evolution of American democracy over the past two and a half centuries, including its continuing relevance today.

David Voelker, Ph.D., teaches early U.S.-American history, environmental history, and environmental humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He served as the editor-in-chief of Voyageur Magazine: Northeast Wisconsin’s Historical Review from 2014 to 2019 and co-edited the ten-volume Debating American History series for Oxford University Press. He is author of The Powhatans and the English in the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake (Oxford University Press, 2019).