First-years spend semester delving into 1770s texts

First-year students in David Armitage’s first-year seminar, “Declarations of Independence: The Political Philosophy of the American Revolution,” examine the Declaration of Independence through its historical context, global influences, and early printings. Working with original materials at Houghton Library and the Museum of the American Revolution, they trace the document’s intellectual foundations and its evolving significance. Their semester-long study offers a nuanced understanding of the ideas, contradictions, and international reach of what Armitage calls America’s “birth certificate.”