WASHINGTON — It was a kind of Brexit centuries before Brexit: Nearly 250 years ago, the Declaration of Independence was written, adopted and announced — and a group of breakaway colonies declared themselves the United States of America.

It was bold; it was risky, and the Declaration had to do a lot of things — inspire the colonists who wanted independence, persuade the ones who didn’t and convince the British, and the rest of the world, that this was a new country, not just a bunch of cranks. They needed a great piece of writing to thread all those needles, and that’s what they got.

Adam Rothman, a professor of history at Georgetown University who specializes in the history of the United States from the Revolution to the Civil War, spoke with WTOP recently about the process that led to the Declaration of Independence. He tells a story that’s no less compelling for being complicated.

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