Professor Gordon S Wood is one of the world's foremost experts on the Declaration of Independence. In this new podcast clip he summarises some of how the 1776 American Revolution was based upon the 1688 Glorious Revolution, at 20 minutes in –
"... They talk in terms of 'we're the defenders of the English Constitution'. It's a curious Revolution in that sense. It's undertaken on behalf of the uncorrupted English Constitution, that they are a free people just as the English used to be. But now 'we are the free Englishmen. We're saving you from your own corrupt system'.
And so they don't see themselves until the very end as needing to be independent. They're defending themselves as Englishmen. And in fact, you could you make a case and they understood the irony of this, that we're revolting on behalf of the English Constitution. And it's a curious kind of thing ...
... they're talking about English rights, all of their rights. And the English had this tremendous tradition of rights. The first Bill of Rights that we talk about is in the 1688 Glorious Revolution, they get a Bill of Rights against the Crown.
The only thing that's unique about American rights is the right of religion because the English keep an Established Church, but all the other rights - jury trial, all that stuff that's in the 10 amendments, The Bill of Rights - are English rights..."
