{"id":39733,"date":"2025-06-18T11:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=39733"},"modified":"2025-06-19T04:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T04:25:10","slug":"along-with-the-ideals-it-expresses-the-declaration-of-independence-mourns-for-something-people-lost-in-1776-%e2%88%92-and-now-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/along-with-the-ideals-it-expresses-the-declaration-of-independence-mourns-for-something-people-lost-in-1776-%e2%88%92-and-now-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Along with the ideals it expresses, the Declaration of Independence mourns for something people lost in 1776 \u2212 and now, too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Maurizio Valsania<\/a>, Universit\u00e0 di Torino<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right around the Fourth of July, Americans pay renewed attention to the country\u2019s crucial founding document, the Declaration of Independence<\/a>. Whether Republican or Democrat or independent, some will say \u2013 with reverence \u2013 that adherence to the values expressed in the declaration is what makes them American<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Barack Obama, in his second inaugural address, gave voice to this very conviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat binds this nation together,\u201d he stated, \u201cis not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names.\u201d What truly makes Americans American, he resolved, \u201cis our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The declaration still stands today as a manifesto<\/a>. There are its lofty, \u201cself-evident\u201d principles, of course: that \u201call men are created equal\u201d and that they are \u201cendowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights\u201d such as \u201cLife, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I\u2019m a historian of the early republic<\/a>, and I wish to remind you that the declaration doesn\u2019t just go all pie in the sky. And it\u2019s more than an academic paper waxing on and on about the fashionable philosophical doctrines of the 18th century \u2013 freedom and equality<\/a> \u2013 or the coolest philosopher ever, John Locke<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The declaration provides a realistic depiction of a wounded society, one shivering with fears and teetering on the brink of disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The declaration has been central to American identity; here, a 1942 poster, printed during World War II, reminds Americans of its history. Smith Collection\/Gado\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Repeated injuries and usurpations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On June 11, 1776, the Continental Congress asked five of its members to prepare a text that would notify the British king and his Parliament of America\u2019s firm intention to get a divorce<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drafting committee<\/a> comprised Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and a man who had a stellar reputation as a gifted writer, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jefferson didn\u2019t waste time. He locked himself up in a rented room near the State House in Philadelphia<\/a>, and within a couple of days he was ready to submit a draft to his four teammates for revision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The committee was smitten by the clarity and effectiveness of the document. Other than suggesting a few corrections, Jefferson\u2019s colleagues were elated by the text<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Continental Congress promptly received the document, discussed it, made a handful of alterations, and in the late morning of July 4, 1776, adopted it<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late that night, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap was given the historic task of issuing the first copies<\/a> of the final Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In retrospect, all of this may sound like a tale of fearless heroes eager to break the chains of oppression and single-handedly affirm their boundless love of freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when Thomas Jefferson took the pen in his hand, he didn\u2019t think of himself as a hero. Rather, looking ahead at the immediate future and the drama that would inexorably unfold, he felt overwhelmed. A war, pitting brethren against brethren, the Colonists against their mother country, had already started<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation was tense and painful, because 18th-century Americans didn\u2019t quite see themselves as Americans. They trusted they were active members<\/a> of a powerful, expanding British Empire<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What had begun as yet another crisis<\/a> over Parliament\u2019s right to tax its overseas possessions had quickly transformed into a turning point over whether the Colonies should become independent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a consequence, readers of the declaration cannot escape the impression that this document carries a sense of reluctance, betrayal, fear and even sadness<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Colonists thought we were free, the logic of the declaration goes, but now we are waking up to the dismal realization that the king and the Parliament treat us like their personal slaves<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jefferson\u2019s words appear to longingly express how wonderful it would be for \u201cone people\u201d not to be put in the condition to \u201cdissolve the political bands which have connected them with another.\u201d How desirable it would have been if a way to renew \u201cthe ties of our common kindred<\/a>\u201d could be found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, what Jefferson calls \u201crepeated injuries and usurpations\u201d have created enemies out of a common ancestry, thus stifling the \u201cvoice of justice and of consanguinity<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How not to grieve at these \u201cinjuries\u201d? The king is guilty for \u201cabolishing our most valuable Laws\u201d; he has \u201cexcited domestic insurrections amongst us\u201d; he has sent \u201cOfficers to harass our people\u201d; he has obstructed \u201cthe Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners\u201d; and he has \u201cmade Judges dependent on his Will alone<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans didn\u2019t seek a revolution, the declaration concludes, but Colonists must accept \u201cthe necessity\u201d of a separation: \u201cSuch has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Painter N.C.Wyeth\u2019s depiction of Thomas Jefferson writing the text of the Declaration of Independence. Bettman\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Forget our former love for them\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Americans today may believe that the Declaration of Independence belongs to them \u2013 which it does. The declaration is an American document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to an even larger extent, it belongs to Thomas Jefferson. It\u2019s a Jeffersonian document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most consequential American philosophers<\/a>, the author of the declaration poured into the text his theories of society and of human nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For him, human beings should not live as isolated atoms in constant competition against each other. Jefferson was a communitarian<\/a>, which means that he believed that the very happiness voiced in the declaration could occur only when individuals regard themselves as functional parts of a larger whole made of other human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The declaration was built upon the tenet that, as Jefferson would explain many years later, \u201cNature hath implanted in our breasts a love of others, a sense of duty to them, a moral instinct in short, which prompts us irresistibly to feel and to succour their distresses<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a moral philosopher, Jefferson wasn\u2019t perfect, obviously \u2013 and his views on race and slavery prove that<\/a>. But the declaration puts forth the argument that the British king and the Parliament are also to blame for having transformed a united people, a people who used to love each other, into a mass of foreigners suspicious of each other<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Jefferson\u2019s account, this king has carried out the supreme betrayal \u2013 like tyrannical powers often do. He has stabbed the Americans as well as the British. He has split them into antagonistic parties. And we Americans, as Jefferson wrote in a telling passage of the declaration that didn\u2019t survive revisions, \u201cmust endeavor to forget our former love for them<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American nation was born of the traumatic experience of an amputation. It\u2019s a residual half of a former whole that one way or another managed to learn to become a whole again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after 250 years, America appears once more a people who seem to have lost what binds them together. Those \u201cpolitical bands which have connected them with another\u201d are being tested; \u201cthe ties of \u2026 common kindred\u201d are frayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such words describe a time, centuries ago, of great uncertainty, fear and sadness. It seems America has arrived yet again at such a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maurizio Valsania<\/a>, Professor of American History, Universit\u00e0 di Torino<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maurizio Valsania, Universit\u00e0 di Torino Right around the Fourth of July, Americans pay renewed attention to the country\u2019s crucial founding document, the Declaration of Independence. Whether Republican or Democrat or independent, some will say \u2013 with reverence \u2013 that adherence to the values expressed in the declaration is what makes them American. President Barack Obama, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":39734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[115,292,46,295,10,296,36,4,38],"tags":[710,7601,16544,3852,9328,8273,885,891,886,860,14506,4222,3617,686],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39733"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39735,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39733\/revisions\/39735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}