History

Liberty and 1776

ABSTRACT

The conference explored the concept of liberty emerging from several key texts published in 1776: Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, John Adams's Thoughts on Government, and Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.

READING LIST

Conference Readings

Lloyd S. Kramer, eds. Paine and Jefferson on Liberty. New York: Continuum, 1988.

Adams, John. The Revolutionary Writings of John Adams. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2001.

Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1. Edited by David P. Womersley. London: Penguin, 1994.

Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Edited by R. H. Campbell, A. S. Skinner, and W. B. Todd. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1981.