In this episode of Creating America: The Documents and Speeches That Shaped the United States, host and narrator Will Sarris presents a powerful historical reading of a landmark speech delivered by John Quincy Adams on the 45th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Delivered in 1821, Adams’s address is both a sweeping interpretation of the causes, meaning, and legacy of the Declaration and a profound meditation on the origins of legitimate government. In this speech, Adams argues that the United States was the first nation founded on universal principles of natural rights, rather than conquest, inheritance, or divine monarchy—an idea that would later be called American exceptionalism.

Adams traces the intellectual roots of the Declaration to the Protestant Reformation, contending that the restoration of reason in religion made its application to politics inevitable. He connects the ideas of individual conscience, human equality, social compact, and popular sovereignty to the founding of the American republic, while also revealing how these beliefs shaped 19th-century American political culture.

This episode features:

• John Quincy Adams’s explanation of the moral foundation of the Declaration of Independence
• A critique of governments founded on conquest and hereditary power
• Reflections on natural rights, civil society, and popular sovereignty
• Insight into how Americans have interpreted the Declaration across generations

Presented as a dramatic narrated reading, this episode allows listeners to experience the speech as it was meant to be heard—spoken aloud, rich in rhetoric, and alive with ideas that continue to shape debates about what the United States is and what it ought to be.

🎧 Related episode: Hear the Declaration of Independence itself, read aloud, in the previous episode of Creating America.

About the Podcast
Creating America is an American history podcast dedicated to reading and preserving the documents and speeches that shaped the United States, from iconic texts to lesser-known works that influenced the nation’s development.

Host & Narrator: Will Sarris
📩 Contact: CreatingAmericaPod@gmail.com
💬 Support the show: patreon.com/williamsarris
🌐 More about Will: williamsarris.net

In this episode of Creating America: The Documents and Speeches That Shaped the United States, host and narrator Will Sarris continues the dramatic reading of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, one of the most influential pamphlets in American history.

We hear Part IV: “Of the Present Ability of America; with Some Miscellaneous Reflections,” along with the Appendix to Common Sense, in which Paine delivers a forceful, wide-ranging argument for American independence. From military readiness and naval power to economics, governance, religion, representation, and national character, Paine lays out why the moment for independence is not coming—it is already here.

Written to be heard rather than read, Common Sense was originally consumed aloud by a largely illiterate population. In keeping with that tradition, this podcast presents Paine’s words as a living performance, allowing modern listeners to experience the urgency, logic, and passion that helped ignite the American Revolution.

This episode follows the previous readings of:

• “Of the Present Ability of America: with Some Miscellaneous Reflections"
• "Appendix to Common Sense"

Whether inspirational, provocative, or unsettling, these founding-era texts reveal not only what America was—but what it aspired to become.

About the Podcast
Creating America is a narrated American history podcast dedicated to reading and preserving the documents and speeches that shaped the United States, from famous texts to nearly forgotten works.

Host: Will Sarris
📩 Contact: CreatingAmericaPod@gmail.com
💬 Support the show: patreon.com/williamsarris
🌐 More about Will: williamsarris.net
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This episode continues our chronological journey through Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, one of the most influential political pamphlets in American history and a powerful argument for American independence.

In this installment, we explore Section 3: “Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs,” in which Paine dismantles the case for reconciliation with Great Britain and makes a passionate, reasoned appeal for independence. Written in 1776 and read aloud here as it was originally intended, Paine’s words confront monarchy, inherited power, and political fear—urging Americans to think beyond the present moment and consider the fate of future generations.

With minimal commentary and careful historical context, Creating America allows these foundational texts to speak for themselves. Through professional narration and performance, the podcast brings clarity, urgency, and emotional weight to the ideas that helped ignite the American Revolution.

Whether you are a student of history, a lifelong learner, or hearing these words in full for the first time, this episode offers a deeper understanding of what America was, what it became, and what it aspired to be.

🎙️ Next episode: We conclude Common Sense with Sections 4 and 5.
Host: Will Sarris
📩 Contact: CreatingAmericaPod@gmail.com
💬 Support the show: patreon.com/williamsarris
🌐 More about Will: williamsarris.net
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