{"product_id":"declaring-independence-why-1776-matters-edward-j-larson-hardcover","title":"Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters -- Edward J. Larson, Hardcover","description":"\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the beginning of 1776, virtually no one in the colonies was advocating independence: Americans based their grievances against Parliament on their rights as British subjects. By the end of 1776, independence was on every patriot's lips. The many tyrannies of a king had made an independent republic necessary. In \u003cem\u003eDeclaring Independence\u003c\/em\u003e, Edward J. Larson gives us a compact, insightful history of that pivotal year. He traces a narrative arc that runs from the inspiring appeals of Paine's \u003cem\u003eCommon Sense\u003c\/em\u003e in January; through the soaring ideals of midsummer, when the Continental Congress grounded independence in the self-evident truths of human equality and individual rights, and the states wove revolutionary principles of republican government and the rule of law into their new constitutions; to Paine's urgent pleas of December, when \"the times that try men's souls\" required Americans not \"to shrink from the service of their country.\" Dramatic military clashes also punctuate the year: the British evacuation of Boston forced by the brilliant maneuvers of Washington's Army; the Battle of Long Island, a costly defeat that opened New York to British occupation; and the desperate year-end victory of a threadbare American army at Trenton.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCombined, these ideals and the sacrifices remind us why, on this anniversary and at this political moment, 1776 matters to all of us.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Edward J. Larson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e W. W. Norton \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublished:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11\/11\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.05 lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9.1\" H x 6\" L x 1\" W\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9781324078975\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Flowerburst","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50747079164208,"sku":"9781324078975","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2712\/8368\/files\/9781324078975_b0c66936-7028-457f-94e0-e07a37867bca.jpg?v=1775208823","url":"https:\/\/flowerburst.co\/products\/declaring-independence-why-1776-matters-edward-j-larson-hardcover","provider":"Flowerburst","version":"1.0","type":"link"}