What the Declaration Should Mean To Us, with Meg Mott

The Declaration of Independence starts with the assertion of “self-evident” truths and concludes with a pledge of solidarity through bloodshed. Abolitionists, Suffragists, and the Black Panther Party copied its words verbatim in their subsequent demands for justice. The protestors that stormed the U.S. Capitol yelled “1776!” a reference to the year the Declaration was drafted. If there is one thing that connects these disparate groups, it is the promises of the Declaration.

We’ll consider how the words printed on a single parchment in 1776 continue to inspire demands for freedom and to justify violent insurrections. What constrains that audacious statement that the People have a right to “abolish” their government should it fail to deliver their freedoms? Does this Declaration still serve us in 2021?

After twenty years of teaching political theory and constitutional law to Marlboro College undergraduates, Meg Mott has taken her love of argument to the general public. Her award-winning series Debating Our Rights on the first ten amendments brings civil discussions on contentious issues to public libraries and colleges.