Does Anything from the Year 1776 Matter Today?

Location: Mitchell Room, Castine Historical Society, 17 School Street, Castine

Reservations required for in-person attendance. Click here to RSVP or for the link to watch online.

The Declaration of Independence is a fixture of American culture and the reason that many of us try to spend time with family, picnic, and watch fireworks on the Fourth of July. This illustrated talk looks at the text of the famous document (“all men are created equal . . . with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”) and considers some of its late-eighteenth century context. This will set the stage for a discussion about the meaning of the Declaration’s political ideals as well as its more sordid qualities for US public life today.

Liam Riordan is a history professor at the University of Maine who specializes in the American Revolution. He is the co-editor of What We Know, What We Wish: Maine Statehood, Historical Commemoration, and the Urgency of Public History, forthcoming from UMass Press in June 2025. He helps to organize National History Day in Maine, a statewide research contest for grade 6-12 students. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust in Orland, Maine; the City of Bangor’s Historic Preservation Commission; and the Collections Committee of the Wilson Museum in Castine.