Hi there.
It’s me Dr. Bernstein, and in this video, I’m going to give you some important introductory
background information about the Declaration of Independence and draw some connections
between this founding document and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.
Paine’s genius had to do with the way in which he recognized the extent to which language
could enslave or liberate, and his pamphlet—Common Sense—was like a manual that was designed
to agitate readers’ minds and guide them through the process of rethinking the colonies’
relationship to Britain.
He accomplished his task by engaging in a critique of language
and
calling attention to how England’s abuse of power was, in part, due to its abuse of
language—in its claims to be the parent of the colonies—and then, as
you may have noticed, started getting the colonists to think of themselves as parents—and
what they were going to pass on to the next generation.
Language is also, obviously, of great significance in terms of the Declaration of Independence.
In 1776, the members of the Second Continental Congress proposed that “these united Colonies
are, and of a right ought to be, free and independent states.”
What they needed to do, however, was create a more formal and detailed declaration that
would legitimate—both morally and legally—the colonists’ desire to become autonomous.
Jefferson, who was charged with creating a draft of the Declaration, did not achieve
these goals through originality.
In 1825, Jefferson wrote an account about the intentions behind his composition of the
Declaration:
His goal was “not to find out new principles, or new arguments never before thought of,
not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the
common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent.
. . .Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular
and previous writing.
It was intended to be an expression of the American mind” (352).
So often we praise originality—considering it the hallmark of great writing, but sometimes
in order to really speak to the people—you have to draw upon ideas that are familiar
and really resonate with them.
And that’s precisely what Jefferson did.
He drew together ideas that were “in common currency”—ideas that were already circulating.
Robert Ferguson, that “most of the Declaration, in both word and thought, follows directly
from earlier documents written by Americans…from earlier compacts, resolves, and state constitutions.
All but four of the document’s twenty-eight charges against the king of England appear
in preceding state constitutions” (472).
“many of the words in the opening paragraphs of the declaration closely resemble passages
from Locke’s Two Treatises of Government” and Francis Hutcheson’s ideas about the
pursuit of happiness”
G.K Chesterton once declared: “America is the only nation in the world that is founded
on a creed.
That creed is set forth with dogmatic and even theological lucidity in the Declaration
of Independence, perhaps the only piece of practical politics that is also theoretical
and also great literature.”
Even though Jefferson did not aim for originality in terms of content, what distinguished the
Declaration from the other documents is, as Ferguson notes, “the language,” which
is “sharper and more succinct than its background sources.”
Two of
the big challenges with which Jefferson had to grapple:
1.
He had to figure out how to frame the Declaration in way that would serve to “ring the alarm
bell for the fight for independence in all thirteen colonies at the same time” (Thomas
Gustafson).
2.
He
needed to “unify in sentiment colonists who shared markedly different trains of thought
or associations of ideas regarding the pursuit of liberty and happiness” (Gustafson).
When reading the version of the Declaration that’s in the Norton Anthology, you’ll
notice that certain passages, especially those related to slavery, wound up getting removed
in order to help unify the colonists—mainly by downplaying the very
real differences
that existed between them.
Also, as one scholar points out, Jefferson designed the language of the Declaration to
make it seem as though he were describing a “single people desirous of overthrow.”
You can think more on how he makes this seem the people are all of one mind, the “American
Mind” as he said.
And how he puts in John Winthrop’s “Allot of Christian Charity” he is really emphasizing
the Massachusetts Bay colony as unique and different and special, but what we are getting
here at the very beginning of the declaration is the colonists situation within a universal
sense of human rights.
So rather than being the particular, he places it within the universal frame.
That’s all I am going to say now for the introductory remarks.
If you have any questions feel free to get in touch.
Thanks.