Rosemarie Zagarri on The Declaration’s Grievances

Podcast: We the People · National Constitution Center

Opublikowano: 2026-08-13

When Americans think about the Declaration of Independence, we tend to remember its most famous words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” and its promise of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But to fully understand the Declaration we also need to read the section most Americans skip: its 27 grievances against King George III. For the founding generation, these grievances were not simply a list of complaints. They were central to the Declaration’s argument, laying out the case for how the King and Parliament had violated their rights and why independence had become necessary. Historian Rosemarie Zagarri explores w...