Issue Guide: NIFI's What Should We Do

The decision for the American colonies to declare independence and begin what we now call the Revolutionary War was far from inevitable. This National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI)’s issue guide called “1776: What Should We Do?” invites participants to imagine themselves as American colonists at the Second Constitutional Congress in 1776 grappling with whether to break from Great Britain or remain British subjects. It underscores how citizen actions – and deliberations – shaped the course of history. Like all the issue guides in NIFI’s Historic Decisions series, it includes key background information and frames a structured deliberation around three potential options and their accompanying tradeoffs, and it is ready to implement in classrooms and communities. Read more in the resource center post below.

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After a historical introduction, written from an American colonist’s perspective, NIFI’s “1776: What Should We Do?” issue guide details three main options and presents the arguments in favor of them, including actual quotes from historical figures, and the risks associated with each. The options are structured to encourage participants to recognize moral and practical complexity of the decision. In summary, these options are:

1. Make amends with Great Britain and remain loyal to the British King
2. Declare, and fight for, independence
3. Diplomatically resolve underlying grievances
   
   

The guide portrays this historical moment as the true public dilemma that it was – where the resulting outcome as far from inevitable. While there were strong proponents of independence, a collective, unified decision had to be made. Stepping into this decision-making process provides participants experience in the consideration of multiple points of view and tradeoffs that characterize many of today’s most complicated and polarizing challenges. 
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Revisiting the citizen decisions that led to our nation’s founding also offers a unique opportunity to set the historical stage for our nation’s upcoming 250th birthday in 2026.  Be on the lookout too for NIFI’s forthcoming “America’s Next 250: What’s Next America?” toolkit for resources to guide action-oriented deliberation to empower citizens to shape our nation’s next 250 years.

About NIFI

​National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) believes public problems cannot be solved without public participation. NIFI equips, empowers and mobilizes people to use deliberation to take action for the public good. Most of NIFI’s issue guides are focused on current public problems. This guide is part of a special series of guides focused on key historical decisions that demonstrate how citizen deliberation can shape the course of history. 

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