Known for its high-minded ideals, it’s easy to forget that the Declaration of Independence was written not with stoicism but rage, the kind that pulled down houses and pelted neighbors’ doorways with buckets of pungent mud.

On the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding document, Binghamton University History Professor Robert Parkinson’s new book, Tyrants and Rogues: Understanding the Declaration of Independence, provides that context. It’s the first book in more than a century to focus on the 27 grievances that comprise its core, he said.

The first dozen grievances deal with executive overreach — in those days, royalty — while 13 through 22 concern Parliament, the legislative branch; the last five cover the war itself. In a sense, the Declaration strove to be inclusive in its range, weaving in concerns from North Carolina, New York, Massachusetts and the rest of the colonies.

“There’s a timelessness to the first two paragraphs: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ There’s something eternal and sacred to it,” Parkinson said. “But it’s also extremely timely. A lot of the grievances were ripped from the headlines.”

In the book, Parkinson provides detailed profiles of the men behind those headlines, their lives and impact. He begins his exploration with King George III and the members of his cabinet: men such as Lord North, the prime minister, and Lord Hillsborough, the secretary of state for the American colonies. The latter was so hated that Bostonians created a punishment they referred to as “Hillsborough Paint”: buckets of mud and feces, which they threw on the homes of people they disagreed with.

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