Lecture examines Declaration of Independence

Does the Declaration of Independence have a history? That’s a question historians are asking more frequently, particularly Pauline Maier, a former UW–Madison professor now at MIT. She addresses the question in a Friends of the UW–Madison Libraries lecture at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 18.

Maier, the author of four books, including “From Resistance to Revolution” and “The Old Revolutionaries,” says in “American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence” that more than 90 local “declarations” were generated by the American colonies between April and July of 1776. And, she adds, such declarations against the king represented an English tradition dating from the 14th century.

historian Stephen E. Ambrose says “American Scripture [shows] how a political document designed to justify and encourage rebellion … became a sacred text.”

Maier is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of American History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before Maier moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, she spent one year as the Robinson-Edwards Professor of History at UW–Madison.

Her lecture will be held in the Howard Auditorium, Fluno Center for Executive Education, 601 University Ave.