informative lecture by Dr. Geerten Whaling

Thursday March 14 at 6:30pm at Clermont State Historic Site, an informative lecture by Dr. Geerten Whaling, a Dutch historian from the University of Leiden. Dr. Whaling will be discussing the revolutionary history of the founding of the Dutch Republic and it’s direct and indirect influence on the Founders of the United States. The American Declaration of Independence (1776) has striking parallels with the Dutch Act of Abjuration (1581)—different ages, different people, but the same struggle, the same principles, the same values, and even the same phrasing. Is this a coincidence, or did Declaration of Independence committee member Robert R Livingston, a founding father which Dutch roots, impact the American document with his knowledge of Dutch history?

Dr. Whaling’s work focuses on the history of democracy. As a postdoc researcher at Leiden University, he is the coordinator of the interdisciplinary Profile Area “Political Legitimacy”, a network that connects four Leiden University faculties and hundreds of their researchers. His latest book in Dutch is written together with Professor Wim Voermans (Constitutional Law): Gemeente in de genen. Tradities en toekomst van de lokale democratie in Nederland (Amsterdam: Prometheus 2018). The authors study the origins and future of local democracy in The Netherlands, from a historical, political science, and a constitutional law perspective.

Geerten Waling

For more information contact Geoff Benton, Geoff.Benton@parks.ny.gov, Clermont State Historic Site 1 Clermont Ave, Germantown, NY 12526