American Revolution: Shot Heard Round the World to Declaration of Independence

Dr. Barbara Terzian discusses the events of Lexington and Concord, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, is the founding document of the United States. Months earlier, Thomas Paine authored a pivotal pamphlet titled Common Sense that argued for American independence from Britain. Dr. Terzian will discuss the writing and passage of the Declaration and how Common Sense served as its precursor. 

Dr. Barbara Terzian is a professor in the Department of History at Ohio Wesleyan University. She is a specialist in U.S. legal and women's history and teaches women's history and other courses in U.S. history from the colonial period through the Civil War. Her research focuses on Ohio's constitutional history in the 19th century, particularly as it affected African Americans and women. Her publications include "Ohio's Constitutions: An Historical Perspective" in the Cleveland State Law Review and "Let Us Agitate: Woman Suffrage at Ohio's Constitutional Conventions, 1850-1913" in The History of Ohio Law.