The Declaration of Independence in Global Perspective
No American document has had a greater global impact than the Declaration of Independence. It has been fundamental to American history longer than any other text because it was the first to use the name “the United States of America”: in this sense, the Declaration was the birth certificate of the American nation. It enshrined […]
Three Books on the Declaration: Chris’s recommendation
It was heartening to receive today a supportive email from David Armitage, chair of Harvard’s vaunted history department, and author of The Declaration of Independence: A Global Perspective. Dr. Armitage called our Declaration Project as “an important enterprise.” Such an endorsement from one of the most respected scholars on our Declaration of Independence means a […]
The Declaration and the Promise of a Democratic Culture
The Declaration and the Promise of a Democratic Culture by J.M. Balkin(1) What is the point of constitutional government in the United States of America? It is the eventual redemption in history of the principles of our founding document. I do not mean the written Constitution of 1787. I mean the Declaration of Independence […]
Estonian Declaration of Independence, or Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia (Manifest Eestimaa rahvastele), Feb. 23, 1918
Editor’s Note: This somewhat flowery document, that makes some nods to our July 4, 1776 Declaration, was issued in the midst of World War I by a committee of the Estonian Provincial Assembly. But independence really wasn’t won by Estonia for the first time until Germany formally ceded to it political power in November 1918 — only […]
Declaring My Dissent
Declaring My Dissent In 2000, I had the privilege to be present as film and television legend, Norman Lear, and his wife Lyn, purchased an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. You may have not realized it is possible to purchase a fundamental document of democracy, but there is one remaining copy of the […]
Strictures Upon the Declaration of Independence of Congress at Philadelphia, October 15, 1776
Editor’s Note: Originally published anonymously in 1776, this 32-page missive against our July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Hutchinson, a prominent, despised Loyalist and erstwhile governor of the Massachusetts colony. In his Strictures Upon the Declaration of the Congress at Philadelphia, Hutchinson calls our Founders “impertinent” and insists that they “show in what case a […]
A Declaration of Liberty by the Representatives of the Slave Population of the United States of America, July 4, 1859
After the capture at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, of the white abolitionist, John Brown — who believed that only an armed uprising would rid our nation of slavery, and led the bloody raid on the federal arsenal — a set of documents was recovered at his base of operations. One of them, composed by Brown and transcribed […]
We the Children Declaration of Independence
We the Children Declaration of Independence We The Children of Two Hundred Argyle Road, in order to form a more perfect household, establish justice, insure domestics tranquility, provide for the common defense against intolerable punishments set forth by the parents, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our […]
Declaration of Fairness
My Declaration I declare that of all ways of being, fairness is the most just. Humans act from emotional motives – while important, those decisions at times do not result in fair outcomes. I declare that I will apply a doctrine of fairness to interactions and judgments. Linda Pierce, Richmond, VA
The Girl Declaration
The Girl Declaration — “The Girl Declaration is a call to action to put girls at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda. Let’s make this the moment the world listens to girls.” “Why Malala Yousafzai Supports the Girl Declaration“
