American historian John Lothrop Motley (1814–77) graduated from Harvard in 1831. During 1832 and 1833 he studied in Göttingen before returning to the United States. Already the author of two novels and numerous essays, he began to plan a history of the Netherlands, but, unable to find all the source material he needed in America, he returned to Europe in 1851, this time with his family. The next few years he spent researching in Dresden, The Hague and Brussels. The result was this famous account of the foundation of the Dutch Republic, first published in 1855. The three-volume work begins with a general historical background for the region, before describing the early years of the revolt of the Netherlands, the 1581 declaration of Dutch independence and the assassination of William the Silent in 1584.