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From the host of My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, the story of the greatest argument for liberty ever written is told through the lives of the 56 men who committed their lives property and honor to the document. Carlson discusses not just Jefferson and Adams, but all of them even the less well known like the prisoner Richard Stockton, confused merchant Joesph Hewes, the dueler Gwinnett, brewer-philosopher Samuel Adams and the ultimate founder Richard Henry Lee. Many of the Signers suffe ...
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Who were the people who signed the document Americans celebrate on July 4th? A small part of that question is answered in this episode. An introduction to the Declaration of Independence, its importance in American history and the history of the American Revolution, makes up the bulk of this first podcast episode. Facts that many Americans would ge…
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Everyone knows Jefferson. But who is Button Gwinnett? William Hooper? or Joseph Hewes? this episode discusses the signers from south of Virginia who made an important contribution and sacrifices oft forgotten. From the merchant with a divided mind, to the carpenter who worked his way up to a congressman, to the man lost at sea, we look at these sou…
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Were the signers all rich men? Could it be said, as it has, that they were they looking out for their own? We look at these questions in this episode. As we examine some of the richest founders Robert Morris, William Paca, Carter Braxton, Thomas Nelson, Charles Carroll of Carrollton and Francis Lightfoot Lee, we find that the topic is more complex …
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Though the vote for independence occurred on July 2nd, we celebrate the day of printing and publication. we look at the claim of both days and the role of the state that didn't vote on July 2nd: New York. And we take a look at its delegates: Philip Livingston, William Floyd, Francis Lewis and Lewis Morris, who eventually signed the Declaration and …
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No unease about Independence in this colony. Rhode Island, formed in dissent and the anchor of religious tolerance in America, was a bastion of Patriot activity. We talk about two Signers: William Ellery who invoked the "Sword." in his discussions about reconciliation and the shaky-handed but fearless Stephen Hopkins.…
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Ben Franklin would have been a busy, hard working printer and not a distinguished member of the Continental Congress had he not come up with a best-selling book that allowed him, eventually, to retire. Franklin was a key independence advocate in a conservative state that generally wanted to stay with Britain, his absence might have made history ver…
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William Whipple is not the best known signer. It is only in recent years that this son of New Hampshire is even getting a fitting marker for his grave. In this episode, he is honored for his military service, his strong belief in the American revolutionary cause, and his tree of liberty. He was an ambitious man, who at 23 commanded his own ship. An…
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Hailing from the same state as Adams and Hancock doesn't help to get you noticed, or so it appears with these two Signers important in their time but less known now. One became a Federalist, the other a Republican, but they both were signers working on the same cause in 1776. We wrap up the Massachusetts signers with these two important, if upstage…
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James Wilson is often seen as the swing vote on independence. Without his vote, and John Morton's Pennsylvania would have went against Independence, severing the union of states needed to take on British rule. Yet there were really four swing votes, as we discuss. We also look at the radical coffee house dwellers who helped stir up a crowd, the mil…
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Colonel Franklin, Boss Franklin, And The Iron Declaration Men: Ross, Taylor, Smith, Clymer, Morton
We know Ben Franklin as a printer and a Founder - but what about his role as a military man? Short-lived, but it was probably what catapulted him to enough prominence to represent his colony in the Continental Congress and in London as America's representative prior to Independence. Pennsylvania is highlighted in this cast and we look at some other…
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Could he be the most famous alternate in all of history? Thomas Jefferson was not on the first list to be a delegate to Philadelphia representing his state. But its good that he was, because John Adams and Doctor Franklin found him to be the best writer for the independence document. But that's something that seems to have occured to this young man…
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A pop musician of the 18th century was among the Signers Francis Hopkinson, a 'funny looking man' according to Adamas, was a lawyer but also a musician on the side indeed a master of American music. We discuss him, John Witherspoon the famous preacher and college President, and two doctors Josiah Bartlett (now more famous due to the TV show The Wes…
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He's more than just a large signature. At the John Hancock was seen as the utmost revolutionary, probably the one most in 1776 thought would have been remembered in history as the Foremost Patriot Yet we seem to only remember John Hancock for his signature.We talk about Hancock, and his first physical confrontation with England. Also, Samuel Adams …
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It's a stylePor Bruce Carlson
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A bit about the events that would cause two Signers and friends, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, to stop talking. And stop writing. and the event that almost broke the silence.Por Bruce Carlson
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A legendary ride is brought to dramatic life in this episode, as we discuss the Delaware delegation and the last-minute vote that switched Delaware from reconciliation to independence. We also go to England to look at some precedents for the Declaration including the famous "Great Letter" of King John.…
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