Synopsis
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.Our DeclarationtheirOur DeclarationOur Declaration
Review
At once simple, sharp and deftly executed.
The book is a tour de force of close textual analysis.--Gordon S. Wood
Danielle Allen celebrates the Declaration of Independence by reading it closely--line by line, comma by comma--and invites her fellow citizens to do the same. The result is a richly rewarding book that demonstrates the pleasures of slow reading, the power of words to shape events, and the importance of equality to democratic life.--Michael Sandel, author of What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
Our Declaration is an artful, often elegiac meditation on the meaning of Jefferson's famous words for our time. Allen brings the analytical skills of a philosopher, the voice of a gifted memorialist, and the spirit of a soulful humanist to the task at hand, and manages to do something quite rare, find new meaning in Jefferson's understanding of equality.--Joseph J. Ellis, author of Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence
This wise and rich book is what we need in these troubled times--a robust and persuasive defense of equality and liberty grounded in our national scripture. Danielle Allen is a towering political philosopher of the democratic art of being and a force for good!--Cornel West, author of Democracy Matters: Winning the War on Imperialism
Danielle Allen's poignant and personal reflection on the Declaration of Independence is a rare and singular work...[S]he has written a book that throws open a door to a large circle of readers: anyone with a stake in democracy. Her observations about the importance of language in building and sustaining a republic are especially resonant and worthy of the towering rhetoric of the Declaration. Our Declaration holds the promise of both discovery and rediscovery whether you've never read the Declaration or have memorized each of its 1,337 words.--Ann Marie Lipinski, curator, Nieman Foundation for Journalism, Harvard University
An astounding new book that should reinvigorate public understanding of the founding document of the United States... Reading Ms. Allen makes reading the Declaration meaningful and enjoyable--a powerful enough lesson it is't own right.--Sarah J. Purcell
Our Declaration is a primer on all that we have been missing... Not just an invaluable civics lesson but also a poignant personal memoir... Allen is an evangelist for this romantic moment in American history when men of uncommon vision and political deftness stated their case and listed their grievances against the most powerful nation on Earth.--Thane Rosenbaum
Our Declaration sets forth a bold thesis... Allen's passion for each of the Declaration's 1,337 words is admirable.--Steven B. Smith
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