Senior College Class: A Republic If We Can Keep It: 250 Years of Constitutional Democracy

All Americans know the Declaration of Independence and the significance of 1776, but many may not realize how truly significant the American Revolution was around the world. The American Revolution began a cascade of democratic revolutions across the globe, from France and Haiti to the decolonizing nations of the Global South, and even an abortive attempt by Ho Chi Minh to adopt from whole cloth our Declaration to create a democratic Vietnam. In this presentation Lina Homberger Cordia examines the global impact of the American Revolution, fittingly, as the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary by taking a look at the documents, imagery, and ideas that we all hold so dear.