Michael Hattem

The Declaration of Independence was absolutely revolutionary, first of all, because it affected, essentially, the first modern Republican revolution.

So by very definition, it's a revolutionary document.

And then, of course, if you think about the sort of long-term influence of

the American Revolution as sort of kicking off what historians call the Age of Revolutions, right?

And that goes all the way into the 19th century and stretches all the way to South America throughout Europe.

So it's absolutely a revolutionary document, both in its intent

and its immediate origins, but also in its influence.

And a large part of that has to do not just with the independence that it affected between these 13 colonies in North America and the British Empire, but the ideas that are embedded

in the Declaration.

And that's something that takes some time, as I'm sure we'll talk about, takes some time for those ideals to become the main way that the Declaration is identified and for their influence to spread.

But it's a major part of its legacy.

What was their position?

Well, I mean, in some sense, there is a debate that goes on in England about what is the best way to address this immense war debt.

And the debt is so immense because it's not just necessarily a war for North America.

This is a global war, right?

What one historian has called the global war for empire.

So it involves the Caribbean.

It involves India.

It involves places in Africa.

So the war debt is immense.