What the Founders Really Meant to Say

What the Founders Really Meant to Say

From Breaking History by The Free Press

May 13, 2026 · 57 min

About this episode

Robert Parkinson discusses his new book and the true meaning of the Declaration of Independence's grievances.

Robert Parkinson is a historian at SUNY Binghamton who has spent 25 years studying the American Revolutionary period. His new book, Tyrants and Rogues, arrives just in time for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — and it argues that we’ve been reading that document wrong for most of those 250 years. In this episode, Parkinson explains why the 27 grievances that follow the famous preamble are the real heart of the Declaration, what Congress actually debated and deleted from Thomas Jefferson’s original draft, and why someone in that room made sure race would be the last and most explosive grievance on the list. He also explains why those grievances, written in panic and desperation in the summer of 1776, feel newly urgent today. Limited time: download Supremacy: World War 3 for free via our link and get an exclusive Elite Bomber Seasonal Unit worth $25 - but only for the next 30 days: https://con.onelink.me/kZW6/z3mcjbhb Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Robert Parkinson

Topics covered

  • American Revolution
  • Declaration of Independence
  • historical interpretation
  • grievances
  • race
  • Thomas Jefferson

Keywords

  • American Revolutionary period
  • grievances
  • Thomas Jefferson
  • historian
  • race
  • Declaration of Independence

Sponsors

Supremacy: World War 3

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SUNY Binghamton

Books & works: Tyrants and Rogues

Places: United States

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