Recommended Reading from SCLS: Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters

Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters by Edward J. Larson, 2026

Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward J. Larson’s timely book studies the ideas and sacrifices on the battlefield during 1776 that led the United States to independence. At the onset of 1776, hardly anyone in the colonies was pushing for independence, but all of that changed by the end of the year when every patriot was talking about independence. In January 1776, Thomas Paine published the pamphlet Common Sense that proposed American independence, decrying absolutist governments. He called for representative governments with frequent elections. In July 1776, Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence further embraced the idea of representative governments where “all men are created equal.” The words in these documents have been important throughout history and even in present day.

This book is located in the New Nonfiction collection (973.313 LAR).