The Declaration of Independence and the Principles of the American Revolution

Experience the Event

Presented by Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government

What is the vital difference between a nation that builds a wall to keep people out and one that builds a wall to keep its own citizens in? Grasp the enduring moral foundations of freedom and navigate the intellectual friction between the state of nature and civil society. Transform your perspective on citizenship by examining the Declaration of Independence as a living promise as you secure a profound understanding of why self-governance remains the American promise’s vital, essential gateway.

To read along with the class, enjoy the following:

•  The Declaration of Independence, 1776
• Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Roger C. Weightman, June 24, 1826
• Alexander Hamilton, “The Farmer Refuted,” (excerpt) Feb. 23, 1775
• James Wilson, Lectures on Law, Part I, Chapter VII, “Of Man as a Member of Society,” p. 634–639 (1790)
• James Madison, “Property,” 1792

In what sense are “all men . . . created equal”? What is human liberty? What is prosperity, and how is wealth created? In 1776 these questions were addressed and acted upon in ways that have created the modern world. Commemorating the 250th anniversary, explore 1776 and the ideas that made the modern world, focusing on the Declaration of Independence and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.

1776 and the Ideas That Made the Modern World, taught by Vincent Phillip Muñoz, Tocqueville Professor of Political Science and Concurrent Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame and the Founding Director of ND’s Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government, and James Otteson, John T. Ryan Jr. Professor of Business Ethics in the Mendoza College of Business is sponsored by the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government at the University of Notre Dame. To find out more, please visit their website.

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Meet the Faculty: Vincent Phillip Muñoz

Vincent Phillip Muñoz is the Tocqueville Professor of Political Science and Concurrent Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame. He is also the Founding Director of ND’s Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government. Dr. Muñoz writes and teaches across the fields of constitutional law, American politics, and political philosophy with a focus on religious liberty and the American Founding. He won a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship to support his most recent book, Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses (2022), published by the University of Chicago Press. Dr. Muñoz’s first book, God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson (Cambridge University Press, 2009) won the Hubert Morken Award from the American Political Science Association for the best publication on religion and politics in 2009 and 2010.