Research Catalog

American scripture : making the Declaration of Independence

Title
American scripture : making the Declaration of Independence / Pauline Maier.
Author
Maier, Pauline, 1938-2013.
Publication
New York : Knopf, 1997.

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Details

Description
xxi, 304 pages; 24 cm
Summary
  • 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.
Subjects
Contents
Introduction: Gathering at the Shrine -- Ch. I. Independence. 1. Congress. 2. Independence? 3. Common Sense. 4. A Republic? 5. Decision -- Ch. II. The "Other" Declarations of Independence. 1. In English Ways. 2. Mobilizing the People. 3. Declaring Independence. 4. Founding a Republic -- Ch. III. Mr. Jefferson and His Editors. 1. The Drafting Committee. 2. Jefferson's Draft: The Charges Against the King. 3. Jefferson's Draft: A Revolutionary Manifesto. 4. Congress's Declaration -- Ch. IV. American Scripture. 1. Spreading the News. 2. An All-But-Forgotten Testament. 3. A Partisan Document. 4. Sacred Text. 5. Equality and Rights. Epilogue: Reflecting at the Memorials -- App. A. State and Local Declarations of Independence, A Log: April-July 1776 -- App. B. Local Resolutions on Independence: Some Examples -- App. C. The Declaration of Independence: The Jefferson Draft with Congress's Editorial Changes.
ISBN
0679454926
LCCN
97002769
OCLC
  • 36446763
  • ocm36446763
Owning Institutions
Columbia University Libraries