What better way to get ready for celebrating July 4th than to listen to the newest episode of “The JuntoCast” on the Declaration of Independence?

In celebration of July 4, Ken Owen, Michael Hattem, and Roy Rogers discuss the Declaration of Independence, including why it took so long to achieve independence, the utility of the document itself, and strategies for teaching the Declaration.

You can click here to listen to the mp3 in a new window or right-click to download and save for later. You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

This episode also marks the completion of the first year of “The JuntoCast.” The first ten episodes of “The JuntoCast” have been downloaded over 10,000 times and we would like to thank all our listeners for their continued support. “The JuntoCast” is not sponsored in any way, so it is the knowledge that our listeners are enjoying and finding some use in “The JuntoCast” that makes the time, effort, and expense expended in its creation and production worthwhile.

We would greatly appreciate it if our listeners could take a moment to rate or, better yet, review the podcast in iTunes. As always, any and all feedback from our listeners is greatly welcomed and appreciated.

Further Reading

Armitage, David. The Declaration of Independence: A Global History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007.

Becker, Carl. The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1922.

Boyd, Julian. The Declaration of Independence: The Evolution of a Text. Washington D.C.: Library of Congress, 1943.

Hogeland, William, Declaration: The Nine Tumultuous Weeks When America Became Independent, May 1-July 4, 1776. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.

Holton, Woody. Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999.

Ellis, Joseph J., ed. What Did the Declaration Declare? Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999.

Maier, Pauline. American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. New York: Norton, 1997.

Rakove, Jack N. The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress. New York: Knopf, 1979.

Raphael, Ray. The First American Revolution. New York: The New Press, 2002.

Slauter, Eric. “The Declaration of Independence and the New Nation” in The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Jefferson. Edited by Frank Shuffleton. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Wills, Garry. Inventing America: Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. New York, NY: Mariner Books, 1979; reprint 2002.

Online Resources

National Archives, “Charters of Freedom”

The Library of Congress, Web Guide to Primary Sources in American History

Monticello.org, The Declaration of Independence