National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America with Historian Michael Auslin

September 01, 2026
12:00pm - 1:00pm

The first complete history of our founding document, from 1776 to the 21st century, "National Treasure" is a celebration of how the Declaration of Independence became the supreme expression of the American Ideal and unity while guiding us along the often-bumpy road on the way to a more perfect Union. It is also a thrilling adventure story and a fond look at the marriage of civics and commerce that has kept the Declaration in the hearts and minds of Americans.

An award-winning historian, Michael Auslin takes us from the boarding house in Philadelphia where Thomas Jefferson put quill to paper to the Declaration’s long, harrowing, and ultimately hallowed afterlife. Through war and peace, expansion and urbanization, and demographic change and social reform, the Declaration has remained, in the words of President Gerald R. Ford, the “Polaris of our political order—the fixed star of freedom.”

As Jefferson had hoped, the principles enshrined in the Declaration became a beacon to the world. But what lessons should we take from it today? Can this statement of ideals in whose name the signers pledged their lives and sacred honor bring a disparate nation together? As we gather to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founders’ bold experiment in democracy, Auslin reminds us that this enduring document was not just a call for freedom and equality but an eloquent statement of the principles that bind us together.

Michael Auslin is the Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Previously, he was an associate professor of history at Yale. He wrote National Treasure as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Library of Congress’s John W. Kluge Center and an American Heritage Partners Fellow at the Society of the Cincinnati’s American Revolution Institute. He writes a Substack, The Patowmack Packet, on Washington, DC, past and present, and lives in Virginia.

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"Lunch With Books" is the library’s flagship program for adult patrons. These lunchtime programs feature authors, poets, musicians, historians, and more every Tuesday at noon. Bring lunch (to your computer), feed your brain!