As we inch toward the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, let me share a couple of reflections on the background of how this extraordinary, unprecedented and daring event succeeded.

Two decades ago, I set out to write a book about the events known as the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89. I suspected that this revolution — the ouster of the Catholic King James II of England and the installation of his Protestant son-in-law (and nephew) William III and daughter Mary I — was helpful, perhaps a necessary precursor of the American Revolution.

"Our First Revolution" appeared in 2007 and sold in respectable numbers, with a sharp upturn after I was interviewed by Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. I was told that Stewart is interested in history and had actually read the book, and he gave it a rousing endorsement. Our paths have not crossed since, and I owe him a belated and robust thanks.

I was convinced then and am more so now that the events of the Glorious Revolution and their reverberations over the next three-quarters of a century made possible the success of the American Revolution.

First, because the ouster of one king with a clear hereditary claim, the exclusion of his male heirs, and the installation of three foreign successors left a cloud over the title of whoever held the monarchy. James and his Stuart son and grandsons were Catholics, unsuitable for Protestant England.

William was a Dutchman, stadtholder of the Dutch Republic; his English wife, Mary, was subservient and died six years into his reign; they were childless and succeeded by the very English Queen Anne. After her one surviving child died of smallpox in 1700, Parliament passed the Act of Succession barring Catholics (and anyone who married a Catholic)........

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