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Declaration of Pillnitz
The Declaration of Pillnitz was a joint statement issued on 27 August 1791 by Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1790-1792) and King Frederick William II of Prussia (r. 1786-1797). The declaration appealed to all European powers to unite...
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Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is the foundational document of the United States of America. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, it explains why the Thirteen Colonies decided to separate from Great Britain during the American Revolution...
Definition
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was the body of delegates that governed the Thirteen Colonies and, later, the United States during the American Revolutionary War. Between its first session in May 1775 and its disbandment in March 1781, the...
Definition
Richard Henry Lee
Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794) was an American politician from Virginia, who played a significant role in the American Revolution (1765-1789), particularly in the push for independence. A member of the prominent Lee family of Virginia, he...
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Louis XVI, the Girondins, & the Road to Revolutionary War (1791-92)
On 20 April 1792, King Louis XVI of France (r. 1774-1792) stood before the Legislative Assembly and, with a faltering voice, read a declaration of war against Austria, to the ecstatic delight of the gathered deputies. This declaration sealed...
Article
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen) is a human rights document adopted in the early stages of the French Revolution (1789-1799). Inspired by Enlightenment Age principles...
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Declaration of Pillnitz
Meeting of European rulers at the Pillnitz Conference, famous for the Declaration of Pillnitz, which was issued on 27 August 1791 and threatened Revolutionary France with invasion. Depicted in the center are Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor...
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Coin Commemorating the Declaration of Pillnitz
Coin commemorating the Declaration of Pillnitz, 1791.
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US Declaration of Independence
An 1823 copy of the US Declaration of Independence by William Stone; the original was written by Thomas Jefferson and other congressional delegates and passed on 4 July 1776.
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Writing the Declaration of Independence
A painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris showing Thomas Jefferson (right), Benjamin Franklin (left), and John Adams drafting the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776. (Virginia Historical Society, Library of Congress)