Don Wildman

And specifically you have, I mean, and interestingly, you have the French military here and all those soldiers have gone home, you know, top of the list, Lafayette, you know, and understanding that this all took place and that this declaration got read all over the place.

Yeah.

The Haitian Revolution, quite a different set of circumstances, 1791 to 1804.

It also drew on the ideas in America, which is ironic, the quality of men.

This was really a Haitian, an enslaved revolution against the French, but definitely drew strength from those words, all men are created equal.

Latin American revolutionary leaders like Simon Bolivar, also inspired by it.

And then most interestingly to me, because it's just a present, you know, more present to us is the Vietnamese declaration of independence, which happens with Ho Chi Minh.

It's incredible how over these hundreds of years, these words have resonated.

Not only does it write across the firmament the highest ideals of human existence, but it also, ironically, shouts its own hypocrisy.

And so, therefore, it's double-edged, and it's able to be used in both senses and to good ends in both, you know?

It's so interesting that way.

The best experiment is the one that's still, you know, is the highest bar you may never reach.

And it all started with this document we're still trying to figure out.

Yeah.

Michael Haddam, author of Memory of 76, The Revolution in American History.

His newest work will be entitled The Declaration of Independence, A Concise History and published in fall of 26.

How's that going for him?

Godless.

We'll have you back here again, I hope.

Thanks again.