The political value system underpinning the American Declaration of Independence anchors in a dialectical tension of emancipation and oppression. While the egalitarian radicalism of the American Revolution that declared all men to be born free and equal did unleash emancipatory energies, the founding credo of the United States also created new forms of discrimination that were justified by the values of the American Revolution. Central to this tension between emancipation and oppression was the question of who qualified as a human being and how humanity was defined. Professor Depkat's talk will explicate the dialectics emerging from the value system of the American Revolution by looking into the history of Black peopleandwomen inthe United States. 

Volker Depkat is a trained historian and professor of American Studies at the University of Regensburg. His main fields of research are U.S. history from its colonial beginnings to the present in continental, hemispheric and transatlantic perspective, the history of European-American cultural relations, auto/biography studies, visual culture studies, and comparative federalism studies. His recent publications include American Exceptionalism (2021) and Die Amerikanische Revolution (2026). Since January 2026, Volker Depkat has been the expert contributor to the weekly Deutschlandfunk podcast Amerika verstehen.

This event is organised by the University of Bonn and the North American Studies Program and is a part of the "Current Issues in North American & Cultural Studies Lecture Series". 

This event is organized by the University of Bonn. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the organizer directly.