Don Wildman

Well, one way or the other, war finally breaks out in the spring and early summer of 1775.

Battles of Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill.

And after this short break, we'll be back to talk about the actual writing and the signing of the Declaration.

We are back with Michael Haddam, author of Memory of 76, The Revolution in American History.

Michael, when the Declaration was written in 76, fighting was well underway.

So if this declaration didn't start the revolution, what was the real point of it at the time it was composed?

But again, PR, you know, being sent to the French, essentially.

The Spanish, too.

Yeah.

The Dutch, they hoped, you know.

We did an episode that was really fascinating about a spy, French spy, who comes very early in the process and meets with Franklin and another man at Carpenter's Hall and discusses this stuff, trying to sort of feel out whether or not this is going to work.

So people were very aware of this, Franklin, certainly.

right in the hotbed of it all right there in Philadelphia.

Thomas Jefferson famously drafts the document in the week leading up to July 4th.

Why him?

What were his particular qualifications?

Had it been tried before, this declaration idea?

Did they ever meet and say, let's do this thing earlier than this period?

Yeah.

The famous antecedents of this document, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, very interesting to read that and see how closely it really mirrors the...