BFW Revisited: A Declaration in Draft

Ben Franklin's World

Liz Covart

Earlyrepublic, History, Benfranklin, Society & Culture, Warforindependence, Earlyamericanrepublic, Earlyamericanhistory, Education, Colonialamerica, Americanrevolution, Ushistory, Benjaminfranklin

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Declaration of Independence is one of the most iconic documents in United States history. But what do we really know about how it came to be? In our most recent episode, historian Emily Sneff helped us explore the Declaration through your questions–questions that revealed just how complex, living, and contested this document still is. So in today’s Revisited episode, we take a listen to the podcast that Emily helped to produce back in 2017: Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft. Originally part of the Omohundro Institute’s Doing History: To the Revolution! Series, this episode features three distinguished scholars: Danielle Allen, Patrick Spero, and Peter Onuf, Together, these scholars reveal that many hands and minds shaped the Declaration of Independence. They also help us dive into some of the document’s contradictions around slavery and equality. Emily’s Website Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/415 RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 018: Our Declaration🎧 Episode 245: Celebrating the Fourth🎧 Episode 277: Whose Fourth of July?🎧 Episode 388: John Hancock🎧 Episode 394: The Pursuit of Happiness🎧 Episode 415: The Many Declarations of Independence REQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 [email protected] WHEN YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community LISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 Pandora CONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s Website SAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:50.7	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:53.6	Music You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
1:05.2	Hello, and welcome to Ben Franklin's World Revisited,
1:09.6	a series of classic episodes that bring fresh perspective to our latest episodes and add deeper connections to our understanding
1:11.8	of early American history. And I'm your host, Liz Covart. The Declaration of Independence is one of the most
1:18.7	iconic documents in United States history. But what do we really know about how it came to be?
1:25.7	In our most recent episode, historian Emily Sneff helped us explore
1:29.4	the Declaration through your questions, questions that revealed just how complex, living, and
1:34.4	contested this document still is. So in today's revisited episode, I thought we'd take a listen to
	...

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