We Declare

We Declare is an opportunity to engage with the essential questions posed by 1776, created in collaboration with our artists and educators, with the hopes that we engage together in a dialogue around what matters to us in the United States of America. We hope you join us in exploring these questions with us.

Essential Questions

1. How is my story a part of American history?
2. In creating the Declaration of Independence, what mattered?
3. How can we hold this history as a predicament versus an affirming myth?
4. How does an honest reckoning with our past help us move forward together?

Included on this website are videos and instructions for a variety of theater-making and performance techniques that can be used as tools to illuminate the Declaration of Independence, the nature of values and citizenship, and the production 1776. The curriculum is designed to align with the Massachusetts 8th grade Curriculum Frameworks for History and Social Science, though is not intended exclusively for 8th grade classrooms.

On this website, educators and students can explore short videos and tools to:

• Engage with the story, artists, and essential questions of 1776 with help from videos by the artists.
• Activate students’ creativity and understanding of history using theater techniques.
• Declare their intentions for the society in which they wish to live through a creative Declaration of Interdependence using thoughtful lesson plans that integrate theater techniques.
• Submit their creative work