EP 983 Have We Missed the Real Importance of the Declaration of Independence Over All These Years?

 Recently, noted author Walter Isaacson devoted a whole book to what he called “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written”, you know, the one that reads ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” While the beauty of the prose in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence is most often quoted, our guest historian and Professor of History, Robert Parkinson, tells us in his new book that what follows in the form of 27 grievances against the King and his enforcers, represents the real crux of the reason we declared our independence in the first place. In “Tyrants and Rogues: Understanding the Declaration of Independence,” Parkinson details the reasons we decided we must break away from England at the time.  It is the first book in 120 years devoted to the meat of the Declaration of Independence.  On the 250th anniversary of this world changing event, we thought we’d have him get to the heart, rather than the spirit, of the matter.  He makes a bold case and by listening, you’ll have a great conversation piece for your 4th of July celebration.

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