Britain & The American Dream

As the USA celebrates its 250th birthday, historian Peter Moore explores how the British Enlightenment shaped the idea of The American Dream

Britain & The American Dream

As the USA celebrates its 250th birthday attention returns once again to Thomas Jefferson’s famous words in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence: ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness’.

Today this phrase lies at the heart of a quintessentially American creed – one that speaks to free, expansive, questing life that so many in the USA hold dear. But Jefferson’s choice of words in 1776 were not original. They owed much to the values, ideas and personalities of the European Enlightenment and, particularly, Georgian Britain.

Stories can be glimpsed inside them: John Wilkes's bravura political campaigns of the 1760s, Samuel Johnson's emphasis on living a 'happy' life, Catharine Macaulay's zeal for liberty, Thomas Paine's opposition to tyranny.

Join bestselling historian and author Peter Moore as he explores how the British stories contributed to a seismic moment of political change on the anniversary of the first Independence Day.

Copies of Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness by Peter Moore will be available to buy at the event.

Ticket includes a welcome drink, book signing and a chance to explore Dr Johnson's House.

Doors open & welcome drink 6pm.

Talk starts 6.30pm.

Event ends 8pm.

Peter Moore is a writer, journalist and lecturer. He teaches creative writing at the University of Oxford. His debut, Damn His Blood, reconstructed a rural murder in 1806. His second, The Weather Experiment, a New York Times 'Notable Book of the Year', traced early efforts to forecast the weather. His latest book, Endeavour, was a multiple book of the year and a Sunday Times bestseller. He presents a history podcast called Travels Through Time.

Please note, we have limited capacity and early booking is recommended.