American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence | Pauline Maier

American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence | Pauline Maier | Excellent, if a little long-winded

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American Scripture...

	American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence Pauline Maier Vintage, 1998 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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.

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We have it in our power to begin the world over again

This was a required reading for a graduate humanities class. Pauline Maier expertly researched the events leading up to the birth of the Declaration. The First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in May of 1775, and included delegates from all of the thirteen colonies. Not all of the delegates to the Congress were in favor of separating from Great Britain, even though several of the colonies' militias were involved in military actions against the British forces in places like Ft. Ticonderoga. Politically forceful men, such as Robert R. Livingstone of New York, led the majority of delegates. They were primarily interested in the Congress petitioning King George III to hear the colonies grievances and amicably settle their differences. In June, Thomas Jefferson, a delegate from Virginia was chosen to serve on a committee to draft a declaration delineating the colonies grievances to the king. This would be Jefferson's first of many writing assignments while a member of the congress. As is so often the case in history, a great catalyst would have to move the delegates of the congress to overcome their fears and finally break with the Mother country. That catalyst came from Great Britain to the colonies in 1775; and in January 1776, the name Thomas Paine, was virtually on the lips of every adult colonist.

Tom Paine (1737-1809) was the consummate revolutionary and a daring adventurer. Not only was he an important figure in the American Revolution, but he also traveled to France in 1791 to give that revolution a push. Paine traveled from England, just in time to stoke the flames of the revolution with his pamphlet Common Sense, in January 1776. To call Common Sense a sensation in the colonies is actually a bit of an understatement. It was an unparallel sensation and monumental work of Enlightenment rhetoric that quickly fanned the flames of rebellion throughout the colonies. In four months, over 120,000 copies were printed in the colonies--over 500,000 copies by years end. No other pamphlet printed in seventeenth century America came close to its success. Most importantly, Common Sense served to get the colonial patriots to drop their fear of open rebellion, and also emboldened those delegates who favored declaring independence from Britain. The delegates now had the confidence that a large segment of the colonists would support rebellion. The most moving quote from the pamphlet became quite prophetic, when one considers the impact it ultimately had on the delegates in the congress, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, and on the world. "We have it in our power to begin the world over again."

By June 7, 1776, events had progressed to a point that Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, made a motion to dissolve all ties to Great Britain and declare independence.
After the motion passed, the Continental Congress appointed a committee comprised of five men John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman, to draft a Declaration of Independence. The members of the committee left it to John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to write a draft for the rest of the committee members to edit. Adams relayed in his autobiography, that when the two men were left alone, he asked Jefferson to draw up the draft by himself, for several reasons. First, Jefferson was a Southerner and Adams a New Englander, and Adams knew it was important to gain the support of the Southern delegates to pass the resolution in congress. Second, Jefferson had not been vociferous for independence during the past months, and Adams had been the most zealous delegate for independence; thus, Adams thought that a draft from him would get undue scrutiny. Lastly, Adams thought that Jefferson was a more eloquent writer then he was. These historical events would make The Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson icons of Enlightenment philosophy.

The other important quality that Jefferson possessed was that he could write quickly. It is even a more remarkable act of genius, when one realizes that Jefferson had his draft in front of the committee to edit in two days. To gain a better understanding of the philosophical principles in the Declaration, it is important to note what historical and philosophical works influenced Jefferson's thinking which found their way into the Declaration. He did not have access to a library and he only had two documents in his room. One was a draft of the preamble of the Virginia constitution that he had just completed, and the other was a draft version of The Virginia Declaration of Rights that George Mason, its author, had recently sent him. As soon as one compares the Declaration of Independence with Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights, one finds many similarities in language and ideas. To illustrate the point, one famous example is as follows. "The original draft of the Declaration says: `All men are created equal and independent.' The original draft of the Virginia Declaration says: `All men are created equally free and independent." It is detailed facts that makes Maier's book a must read for those interested in the history of the Declaration of Independence.

As a graduate student in philosophy and history, I heartily recommend this timeless classic to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history.

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Excellent, if a little long-winded

I teach a class on American civics and history, and if only this book had written for middle-schoolers (i.e. a bit shorter, since I only have a week to teach the material, review and test). It has excellent research and sources, and it (usually) captures the chaos, excitement and some of the danger of the time. It's a little long, probably by about two chapters. Aside from that, it's an excellent resource. It has made its way, I know, onto two university history and poli-sci department reading lists in North Carolina and Virginia, and I've heard that it's required reading in a few other places. It's a good read, a good telling of a fascinating story. For history buffs and students, this book is a must.

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Writing the Declaration

If you're looking for a great book on the writing of the Declaration of Independence, the clear choice is Pauline Maier's American Scripture. Maier begins with a travel narrative of sorts, explaining what an early American historian sees when she visits the National Archives, and observes hundreds of tourists waiting to view the document. No other significant document in the history of the United States, she notices, seems to create as much reverence, excitement, and patriotism as the Declaration. While the viewers don't necessarily have all of the history under exact command, they have great respect for the document. How the document came to be, and how it developed such popular acclaim become the subjects of the rest of Maier's book. This book truly is a history of the writing of the Declaration. Maier examines the documents that preceded that of July 4, 1776. She finds that in the months preceding July 1776 localities drafted their own declarations, mini-declarations, declaring the cessation of their allegiance to George III and Parliament. These mini-declarations formed the linguistic and stylistic basis for the national declaration. Producing the American Declaration of Independence was a task that fell to a committee of five, which included Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and John Adams. The lion's share of the credit for drafting the Declaration is usually accorded to Jefferson, but Maier finds that the committee of five, particularly Adams, was far more influential than previously thought. Ultimately Maier's book is carefully researched and well-crafted. It is beautifully written, and a joy to read. For those who teach American history, as I do, it is an excellent resource to use in an advanced undergraduate class to discuss how to do research and how to write history. I read this book my first year of graduate school and have relied on it heavily ever since.

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Very Enlightening

I learned much about the construction of the Declaration of Independence, its meaning, the intents behind it, and some of the uses. This is a must read for anyone who wants to know the real story behind the Declaration of Independence. Much of what we are taught about it is too simplistic.

The main drawback is that she jumps around a bit in breaking down the Declaration of Independence. It will be boring for those who only have a cursory interest in the Declaration of Independence.

Sometimes dry editorial review of the writing of the Declaration

Referenced by William Lee Miller in Lincoln's Virtues: An Ethical Biography. Sometimes dry editorial review of the writing of the Declaration.

Most interesting aspect is the discussion of the state and local declarations before and after the real Declaration of Independence, and the history of the physical Declaration, which might have been expanded.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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