The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread devoted to discussion about the Declaration of Independence. This is not a non spoiler thread and anybody can post and add comments. I have attached a url with the text itself and other helpful information.

http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/...

MAKING OF THE CHARTERS:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/char...

The Declaration of Independence

SYLLABUS FOR DISCUSSION OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

ENTIRE WORK: OCTOBER 18TH - NOVEMBER 18TH (2009)

BIOGRAPHIES OF THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:

http://colonialhall.com/biodoi.php

This is a major paragraph that was purposely omitted from the completed Declaration of Independence. Jefferson and others decided that this paragraph needed to be left out.

Take a look at this purposeful omission:

http://www.pinzler.com/ushistory/miss...

Remember folks this discussion also starts on October 18, 2009!

There is a lot going on.

What's on the Back?

People who watched the popular movie "National Treasure" want to know. On the back, at the bottom, upside-down is simply written: "Original Declaration of Independence / dated 4th July 1776." Regarding the message on the back, according to the National Archives, "While no one knows for certain who wrote it, it is known that early in its life, the large parchment document was rolled up for storage. So, it is likely that the notation was added simply as a label." There are no hidden messages.

Source:
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/

Joe wrote: "What's on the Back?

People who watched the popular movie "National Treasure" want to know. On the back, at the bottom, upside-down is simply written: "Original Declaration of Independence / dated ..."

Now that is a useful thing to know. They're right, after seeing "National Treasure" I wondered what I would never have wondered before. And that is a great website. Thanks!

Sometimes I wish I lived closer to Washington DC.

Below is a link to a picture of the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom at the The National Archives Building in Washington D.C. The Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom is the permanent home of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and Bill of Rights.

http://www.archives.gov/nae/visit/rot...

Elizabeth S wrote: "Thanks! "

Oh, your welcome. :-)

Bentley wrote: "This is a major paragraph that was purposely omitted from the completed Declaration of Independence. Jefferson and others decided that this paragraph needed to be left out."

Very interesting, Bentley.
Everyone knew that if the founders tried to comment on the slave issue, all hell would break loose. What a price to pay for that decision, 80 years later...

A couple of questions to ponder:

1. In what ways does the Declaration of Independence reflect the foundations of British political tradition? In what sense does it depart from that tradition? What traditions did the founding fathers appreciate about the mother country of England which they did not want to change; what did they value? It would seem to many that separating from their country of origin was a difficult task because many of them viewed themselves still as British gentry and citizens.

2. Why was Jefferson’s paragraph on the slave trade omitted from the final draft of the Constitution? Do you think that Jefferson decided to omit this paragraph on his own or do you think that others prompted him to do so. It was a strange paragraph to begin with from someone who owned slaves. (Message 5)

This was also from the same site: interesting timeline:

http://pinzler.com/ushistory/firstpar...

The delegates voted to remove Jefferson's slave paragraph. Jefferson notes it was because of Georgia and South Carolina.

Thank you Bryan...I was hoping that you would give us some insight to this paragraph. I thought it was odd for Jefferson to begin with to add such a paragraph considering that he owned slaves. So because of Georgia and South Carolina the delegates decided to remove this paragraph so as not to start any trouble with them. A very smart move.

Bentley

We could read a book or two on this topic sometime in this group. It is a great topic.

Jefferson did believe slavery was evil and the first step in its eradication was banning the slave trade and he saw the DOI as a way to do it, and he worked on that as President. He felt gradual emancipation might be the answer, then as he got older, he realized the next generation would have to deal with it.

On the personal side, it seems different. My own personal opinion is that he could not survive without slaves; it was such an entrenched part of his life that he could not free his own slaves like Washington. I never read anything that he considered the idea. It is a difficult paradox and I ponder it from time to time as I do my work.

I agree with your post Bryan...on one hand do as I say rather than do as I do.

Jefferson really did speak out of both sides of his mouth sometimes. I think he was a bit tormented with his choices. He knew he could not free his slaves any more than other Southerners could free theirs and maintain their style of life and even raise their crops. How do you rationalize away the choices that you had to make as a large plantation owner versus the fact that a whole class of people serve you rather than themselves. What is even tougher to understand is how could they lure the Southern states into the Union promising them that they could have their slaves etc. and then pull the rug out from underneath them when they had done just that. So when they wanted to leave the Union, who would be surprised. It is not as if they weren't promised that they could continue to maintain their lifestyle. What did the founding fathers think...that the problem would just go away by itself?

A very sad time in our history. I also feel as bad for our Native Americans.

Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence

by Garry Wills

Thomas Jefferson



Synopsis
From one of America's foremost historians, Inventing America compares Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence with the final, accepted version, thereby challenging many long-cherished assumptions about both the man and the document. Although Jefferson has long been idealized as a champion of individual rights, Wills argues that in fact his vision was one in which interdependence, not self-interest, lay at the foundation of society. "No one has offered so drastic a revision or so close or convincing an analysis as Wills has . . . The results are little short of astonishing" (Edmund S. Morgan New York Review of Books ).

Jill, thank you for dusting this thread off.

Here is a good work:

The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas

Carl L. Becker

Synopsis

When Carl L. Becker's classic study of the text of the Declaration of Independence first appeared in 1922, it marked a great departure from the passionate and patriotic tenor of many existing historical analyses. Becker claims his work was well received by all reviewers save one, who criticized its preoccupation with hard cold documents. In the 1941 introduction to this edition, Becker defends his approach, stating: "I was aware that men had bled and died for freedom.... But on this occasion I chose to write a book about the document itself ... a state paper of sufficient renown to be classed with the world's classics of political literature."

Becker describes the rhythm of the first line of the Declaration of Independence as "that felicitous, haunting cadence which is the peculiar quality of Jefferson's best writing." He goes on to define the purpose of the document, its views, where those views arose, and how succeeding generations have accepted or modified them. Chapters such as "Historical Antecedents of the Declaration: The Natural Rights Philosophy," "Drafting the Declaration; The Literary Qualities of the Declaration," and "The Philosophy of the Declaration in the Nineteenth Century" distinguish this book as one of the most complete studies of America's--and arguably the world's--most important historical document.

Another one I recommend:

American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence

Pauline Maier

Synopsis

Pauline Maier shows us the Declaration as both the defining statement of our national identity and the moral standard by which we live as a nation. It is truly "American Scripture," and Maier tells us how it came to be -- from the Declaration's birth in the hard and tortuous struggle by which Americans arrived at Independence to the ways in which, in the nineteenth century, the document itself became sanctified.

Maier describes the transformation of the Second Continental Congress into a national government, unlike anything that preceded or followed it, and with more authority than the colonists would ever have conceded to the British Parliament; the great difficulty in making the decision for Independence; the influence of Paine's Common Sense, which shifted the terms of debate; and the political maneuvers that allowed Congress to make the momentous decision.

In Maier's hands, the Declaration of Independence is brought close to us. She lets us hear the voice of the people as revealed in the other "declarations" of 1776: the local resolutions -- most of which have gone unnoticed over the past two centuries -- that explained, advocated, and justified Independence and undergirded Congress's work. Detective-like, she discloses the origins of key ideas and phrases in the Declaration and unravels the complex story of its drafting and of the group-editing job which angered Thomas Jefferson.

Maier also reveals what happened to the Declaration after the signing and celebration: how it was largely forgotten and then revived to buttress political arguments of the nineteenth century; and, most important, how Abraham Lincoln ensured its persistence as a living force in American society. Finally, she shows how by the very act of venerating the Declaration as we do -- by holding it as sacrosanct, akin to holy writ -- we may actually be betraying its purpose and its power.

Some great stuff folks.

States' Rights and the Union: Imperium in Imperio, 1776-1876

by Forrest McDonald (no photo)

Synopsis

A respected historian traces the states' rights idea from the Declaration of Independence to the end of Reconstruction, illuminating the constitutional, political, and economic contexts in which it evolved, and focusing on the concept of "imperium in imperio", the division of power within a single jurisdiction.

For Liberty and Equality: The Life and Times of the Declaration of Independence

by Alexander Tsesis (no photo)

Synopsis:

The Declaration of Independence is one of the most influential documents in modern history-the inspiration for what would become the most powerful democracy in the world. Indeed, at every stage of American history, the Declaration has been a touchstone for evaluating the legitimacy of legal, social, and political practices. Not only have civil rights activists drawn inspiration from its proclamation of inalienable rights, but individuals decrying a wide variety of governmental abuses have turned for support to the document's enumeration of British tyranny.

In this sweeping synthesis of the Declaration's impact on American life, ranging from 1776 to the present, Alexander Tsesis offers a deeply researched narrative that highlights the many surprising ways in which this document has influenced American politics, law, and society. The drafting of the Bill of Rights, the Reconstruction Amendments, the New Deal, the Civil Rights movement-all are heavily indebted to the Declaration's principles of representative government. Tsesis demonstrates that from the founding on, the Declaration has played a central role in American political and social advocacy, congressional debates, and presidential decisions. He focuses on how successive generations internalized, adapted, and interpreted its meaning, but he also shines a light on the many American failures to live up to the ideals enshrined in the document.

Based on extensive research from primary sources such as newspapers, diaries, letters, transcripts of speeches, and congressional records, For Liberty and Equality shows how our founding document shaped America through successive eras and why its influence has always been crucial to the nation and our way of life.

Richard Stockton, a lawyer from Princeton, New Jersey, became the only signer of the Declaration of Independence to recant his support of the revolution. - Adam Gottbetter

Thank you Adam - we appreciate it and a great comment. However, please remove your link to your author's page - we do not allow self promotion.

After you have posted and contributed for a time to the discussions - we honor our members by posting their work in one of our threads - but only then. I will try to let you edit your message yourself first.

Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality

by Danielle S. Allen (no photo)

Synopsis:

In just 1,337 words, the Declaration of Independence altered the course of history. Written in 1776, it is the most profound document in the history of government since the Magna Carta, signed nearly 800 years ago in 1215. Yet despite its paramount importance, the Declaration, curiously, is rarely read from start to finish—much less understood.

Troubled by the fact that so few Americans actually know what it says, Danielle Allen, a political philosopher renowned for her work on justice and citizenship, set out to explore the arguments of the Declaration, reading it with both adult night students and University of Chicago undergraduates. Keenly aware that the Declaration is riddled with contradictions—liberating some while subjugating slaves and Native Americans—Allen and her students nonetheless came to see that the Declaration makes a coherent and riveting argument about equality. They found not a historical text that required memorization, but an animating force that could and did transform the course of their everyday lives.

In an "uncommonly elegant, incisive, and often poetic primer on America’s cardinal text," Our Declaration now brings these insights to the general reader, illuminating the "three great themes of the Declaration: equality, liberty, and the abiding power of language" (David M. Kennedy). Vividly evoking the colonial world between 1774 and 1777, Allen describes the challenges faced by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston—the "Committee of Five" who had to write a document that reflected the aspirations of a restive population and forge an unprecedented social contract. Although the focus is usually on Jefferson, Allen restores credit not only to John Adams and Richard Henry Lee but also to clerk Timothy Matlack and printer Mary Katherine Goddard.

Allen also restores the astonishing text of the Declaration itself. Its list of self-evident truths does not end, as so many think, with our individual right to the "pursuit of happiness" but with the collective right of the people to reform government so that it will "effect their Safety and Happiness." The sentence laying out the self-evident truths leads us from the individual to the community—from our individual rights to what we can achieve only together, as a community constituted by bonds of equality. Challenging so much of our conventional political wisdom, Our Declaration boldly makes the case that we cannot have freedom as individuals without equality among us as a people.

With its cogent analysis and passionate advocacy, Our Declaration thrillingly affirms the continuing relevance of America’s founding text, ultimately revealing what democracy actually means and what it asks of us.

Thank you Bryan

Declaration: The Nine Tumultuous Weeks When America Became Independent, May 1-July 4, 1776

by William Hogeland (no photo)

Synopsis:

This is the rambunctious story of how America came to declare independence in Philadelphia in 1776. As late as that May, the Continental Congress had no plans to break away from England. Troops under General George Washington had been fighting the British for nearly a year—yet in Philadelphia a mighty bloc known as "reconciliationists," led by the influential Pennsylvanian John Dickinson, strove to keep America part of the British Empire. But a cadre of activists—led by the mysterious Samuel Adams of Massachusetts and assisted by his nervous cousin John—plotted to bring about American independence. Their audacious secret plan proposed overturning the reconciliationist government of Pennsylvania and replacing it with pro-independence leaders. Remarkably, the adventure succeeded. The Adams coalition set in motion a startling chain of events in the Philadelphia streets, in the Continental Congress, and throughout the country that culminated in the Declaration of Independence on July 4.

In Declaration William Hogeland brings to vibrant life both the day-to-day excitement and the profound importance of those nine fast-paced weeks essential to the American founding yet little known today. He depicts the strange-bedfellow alliance the Adamses formed with scruffy Philadelphia outsiders and elegant Virginia planters to demand liberty. He paints intimate portraits of key figures: John Dickinson, a patriot who found himself outmaneuvered on the losing side of history; Benjamin Franklin, the most famous man in America, engaged in and perplexed by his city’s upheavals; Samuel Adams, implacable in changing the direction of Congress; his cousin John, anxious about the democratic aspirations of their rabble-rousing Philadelphia allies; and those democratic radical organizers themselves, essential to bringing about independence, all but forgotten until now.

As the patriots’ adventure gathers toward the world-changing climax of the Declaration, conflicts and ironies arise, with trenchant relevance for the most important issues confronting Americans today. Declaration offers a fresh, gripping, and vivid portrait of the passionate men and thrilling events that gave our country birth.

Here are some wonderful courses on Khan Academy in AP - US Government and Politics - Foundations of American Democracy.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...

Source: Khan Academy

Civics 101 - PODCAST

Founding Documents: Declaration of Independence
The shortest document with the biggest possible job.

Link: https://www.civics101podcast.org

Source: Civics 101 Podcast

Khan Academy tackles the Constitutional Convention: - this is pretty good


James Madison - age 32 in 1783

In this video, historian Joe Ellis and Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson discuss the Constitutional Convention and the replacement of the Articles of Confederation, the Virginia Plan and national government vs. states rights. Created by Aspen Institute.

https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-c...

Source: Khan Academy, Youtube, Aspen Institute

More:
The Constitution and democracy - Ellis and Isaacson for Khan Academy - pretty good - they get into the discussion of a republic versus a democracy which is part of the Federalist 14 essay
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-c...
The Constitution and the role of the President - Ellis and Isaacson - pretty good
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-c...
The Constitution and slavery part 1 - - Ellis and Isaacson - pretty good - they discuss the Constitution and ideological divide around slavery in addition to the Three-Fifths compromise
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-c...

Note: I have decided to include all of these brief presentations by Ellis and Isaacson because they are very good and give some excellent background information either about the discussions at the Constitutional Conference itself or repercussions later on.

More (cont'd):
The Constitution and slavery part 2 - Ellis and Isaacson continue the discussion of the Constitution and slavery and what compromise meant at the Constitutional Convention and George Washington's involvement with slaves - pretty good
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-c...
The Constitution and proportional representation - this one has relevance to Federalist 14 in terms of the states - Ellis and Isaacson talk about the following: In the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the delegates compromised on state representation by dividing the legislative branch between the Senate, in which every state has two representatives regardless of size, and the House of Representations, where representatives are apportioned to the states according to their population. For the purposes of apportionment, the delegates agreed to the now-infamous Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted each enslaved resident of the Southern states as three-fifths of a person - this one was excellent and describes extremely well what is wrong in Congress and other branches today - lack of humility - quite good when they discuss Ben Franklin's letter
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-c...
The Constitution and "We, the People of the United States" - Joe Ellis and Walter Isaacson discuss the beginning of the Constitution and the term "We, the People of the United States" and what that means - relevant to Federalist 14 and the power of the people - very good
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-c...
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights: Amendments 1-3
Ellis and Isaacson discuss the Constitution's Bill of Rights, Amendments 1-3 - Relevant to Federalist 14 in many ways because Madison is the author of the Bill of Rights which was a compromise to the Anti Federalists to get their votes to ratify the Constitution - 7 states ratified the constitution with suggested amendments - the amendments were not stipulations by recommendations (Madison wanted to make that point) - there were actually 124 suggested original state recommended amendments - many overlapped and repeated themselves - but Madison said in order to get the full cooperation of the states - remember Rhode Island had not certified, North Carolina was lingering, New York really signed against its will that we need to prove and show that we have listened to them. Madison writes them on his own time when he was then in the House of Representatives and is a codicil to the Constitution - very good
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-c...
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights: Amendments 4, 5, 10
Ellis and Isaacson discuss the Constitution's Bill of Rights, Amendments 4, 5, and 10. - this is interesting because the 10th amendment was a catch all for everything not discussed in the Constitution about the rights of the states and its people - but this amendment has caused quite a bit of ire and confusion. - good
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-c...
For Fun - there is a Practice Test:
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-c...--

An upcoming book:
Release date: November 5, 2025

The Course of Human Events: The Declaration of Independence and the Historical Origins of the United States

by Steven Sarson (no photo)

Synopsis:

Thomas Jefferson chose his words carefully. Few could have been more deliberate than “When in the Course of human events,” the phrase with which he opened the Declaration of Independence. As Steven Sarson shows, the original Declaration moved through the ages of human history from Creation to American independence, assessing it according to “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”

The Declaration’s history and historical consciousness therefore help answer one of American history’s great How did the founders reconcile their lofty views on equality and liberty with the inequities and iniquities that they maintained in their time? The contingencies of history and the complexities of natural law, Sarson demonstrates, meant that the Declaration’s eloquent promises of equality and liberty only applied partially to women and poor men, and not at all to Loyalists, Indigenous Americans, and enslaved people.

The Declaration’s assertion that “all men are created equal” has since become a promise of universal equality and liberty. As we reach its 250th anniversary, it is important to understand its original context as well as to continue the mission of making its promises a lived reality for all.

Another:
Release date: December 2, 2025

The Making of the American Mind: The Story of our Declaration of Independence

by Matthew Spalding (no photo)

Synopsis:

The Making of the American Mind is the story of the making and meaning of the Declaration, of how in the summer of 1776 a band of iron men from thirteen separate colonies banded together and declared independence from—and declared war against—the most powerful nation in the world.

In following the historic events around them, and the great characters at its center—General Washington leading an army while John Adams pursues independence and a cautious John Dickinson seeks reconciliation—it places the Declaration in its immediate strategic and political context. By focusing on the drafting and editing of the Declaration—Thomas Jefferson called it “an expression of the American mind”—it explains how that mind, years if not decades in the making, came to be written down by Jefferson and expressed in the Declaration’s powerful words.

Rather than emphasizing one aspect or one person, as is usually the case, this work is a commentary on the Declaration as a whole, allowing its narrative, and its argument—about the Course of Human Events, self-evident truths, unalienable Rights, abuses and usurpations, sacred Honor—to unfold on its terms, as the Continental Congress intended in declaring independence. Abraham Lincoln said once that public opinion “always has a ‘central idea,’ from which all its minor thoughts radiate.” America’s central idea is the Declaration, and everything else radiates from that.

Grand review, Jerome!. Thank you for your stirring words.
Regards,
Andrea

Another:
Release date: May 26, 2026

The Living Declaration: A Biography of America's Founding Text

by Ted Widmer (no photo)

Synopsis:

We hold these truths to be self-evident . . . all men are created equal . . . with certain inalienable rights . . . life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 250 years after they were written, these words remain at once familiar and startling. What do they mean to us today? Do we understand them in the same way the Founders did? Historian and former presidential speechwriter Ted Widmer seeks to answer these questions by returning to where the nation's story began, the Declaration of Independence, to trace the remarkable history of how our national charter came to be and how it has shaped the democratic aspirations of Americans and others for more than two centuries.

Weaving together more than sixty fascinating original texts, Widmer finds in the words of succeeding generations of Americans--radicals and conservatives, Civil War combatants and civil rights leaders, presidents and philosophers--the key to understanding the extraordinary durability of America's founding ideas.

An expert guide, Widmer introduces us to:
• the revolutionary writings that set the stage for the Declaration
Noah Webster, of dictionary fame, offering a surprising definition of "equality"
• the true story of a fake declaration of independence "discovered" in Mecklenburg, North Carolina, in 1819
searing challenges to the Declaration's philosophical claims by Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
radically divergent readings of the Declaration that contributed to the Civil War, and Abraham Lincoln's vision of a "new birth of freedom"
• the ways in which the Declaration inspired civil rights activists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries
how the Declaration inspired democratic aspirations globally.

The voices gathered here are impassioned, and though often at odds, all are united in the belief that the Declaration reveals something crucial about the American people and the quest for human freedom. As we mark the 250th anniversary of our independence, The Living Declaration encourages us to look anew at a vital American text whose history is still unfolding.

My Goodness, Jerome! this book sounds like something every red-blooded American ought to read. Unfortunately, my obese TBR List currently clocks in at 2,060, and I dare not add another book for fear it would up and divorce me, or something worse!
Regards,
Andrea

Andrea wrote: "My Goodness, Jerome! this book sounds like something every red-blooded American ought to read. Unfortunately, my obese TBR List currently clocks in at 2,060, and I dare not add another book for fea..."

No problem, Andrea! I have long since ceased worrying about the length of my list, haha.

Oohhhh, Jerome, you are far braver than I. Or, perhaps your TBR List has better manners.
Regards,
Andrea