|
Two hundred and fifty years after the Continental Congress proclaimed the Declaration of Independence, American democracy confronts its gravest crisis since the Civil War. The principles proclaimed in Philadelphia in July 1776—that all men are created equal, that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and that the people retain the right to abolish any government that becomes destructive of these ends—are being trampled by a government controlled by a financial‑corporate oligarchy.
At the same time, resistance to this assault on democracy is being undermined by the claim that there is nothing in the legacy of the American Revolution worth defending. While rejecting simplistic nationalist myth‑making, the standpoint of this webinar is that the American Revolution was a world‑historic event. Despite its limitations, contradictions, and compromises, it set into motion a global wave of democratic revolutions, led inexorably to the destruction of slavery in the United States, and opened a new epoch of struggle for the emancipation of the working class.
The webinar will feature a distinguished panel of historians who have written extensively on the complex legacy of the American Revolution—James Oakes, Richard Carwardine, Sean Wilentz, Adam Hochschild, and Thomas Mackaman—moderated by David North, International Editor of the World Socialist Web Site.
We encourage all our readers and supporters to register today to attend and to promote the event widely on social media and among your friends and coworkers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
James Oakes
A leading historian of slavery, antislavery politics, and the Civil War era, and a two‑time winner of the Lincoln Prize, for The Radical and the Republican and Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861–1865.
|
|
|
|
Richard Carwardine
A two‑time Lincoln Prize–winning biographer of Abraham Lincoln and author of Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power and Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln’s Union.
|
|
|
|
Sean Wilentz
A Bancroft Prize–winning historian and leading interpreter of pre‑Civil War democracy, party politics, and social conflict, author of The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln and No Property in Man: Slavery and Antislavery at the Nation’s Founding.
|
|
|
|
Adam Hochschild
His work spans imperialism, war, slavery, and the long struggle for human rights. His books include American Midnight, Bury the Chains (Los Angeles Times Book Prize; National Book Award finalist), and King Leopold’s Ghost.
|
|
|
|
Thomas Mackaman
A writer for the World Socialist Web Site on US and labor history, author of New Immigrants and the Radicalization of American Labor, 1914–1924 and co‑editor, with David North, of The New York Times’ 1619 Project and the Racialist Falsification of History.
|
|
|
|
David North
National chairman of the Socialist Equality Party and chairman of the WSWS International Editorial Board. Active in the leadership of the Fourth International for 50 years, he is the author of numerous works, including The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century, and editor of the newly published Oligarchy: Trump and the Breakdown of American Democracy.
|
|
|
Thursday, June 25, 2:00–4:00 p.m. EDT. Register now.
|
|
|
We’re powered by the support of our readers and workers. Make a contribution today to the World Socialist Web Site.
This email was sent to alitealbum.wsws@blogger.com. If you want to, you can unsubscribe. We rely on your financial support and your participation.
|
© Copyright 2026, World Socialist Web Site, wsws.org. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment