By The Dawn’s Early Light: The Legacy of the American Revolution with Dolores Janiewski

2026 marks 250 years since the United States declared its independence, setting down in writing the ideals of modern bourgeois society that had been developing for centuries: that all are created equal and born with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Declaration proclaims the profound sense of possibility nurtured by Enlightenment radicals, but the modern freedom they envisioned remains an incomplete project. Throughout its 250 year existence – from the civil war fought to abolish slavery to the modern socialist movement, many in the United States have gone back to its founding moment as a source of inspiration.

Join us for an evening with historian Dolores Janiewski as we walk through this 250 year history and its implications.

Dolores Janiewski is a historian with decades of experience writing on and teaching American history, as well as a participant in the civil rights movement.