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Our Declaration
A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality
by Danielle S. Allen


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

Danielle Allen is a professor of government at Harvard and director of the Safra Center for Ethics there, and is considering a run for governor of Massachusetts. Her 2014 book Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality is a highly readable and detailed examination of the founding document of the United States. Those looking for potential prescriptions on current issues will have to look elsewhere. This is a work of political philosophy, not a campaign platform.

In short chapters she takes the reader through the Declaration sentence by sentence. It is, of necessity, a history book, so she delves into the men like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams who were instrumental in its creation. She provides context for the list of complaints about the tyranny of King George III. As well, she explores the drafts and revisions that were part of the process that led to the final document.

Yet this is not merely a history of the times and men that led to the Declaration. If the book can be said to have a theme it is of the tension between the competing ideas of "liberty" and "equality." This is apparent right near the start in possibly the best known and oft-quoted line from the document: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." That sentence alone leads Allen to numerous topics: What does it mean that something is "self-evident?" Does "all men" refer only to white male property owners? What does a reference to "their Creator" say about the religious agenda of the document, if any?

As the title of her book suggests, it is the notion of equality that motivated her to write it. For those wondering what a possible future Governor Allen means by that, she writes, "The point of political equality, then, is not merely to secure spaces free from domination but also to engage all members of a community in the work of creating and constantly re-creating that community." [p.269] The goal of the new country would be where everyone has a stake in its success or, as she puts it, "an equal ownership share."

She would be the first to admit we haven't always lived up to that standard, but it's a goal that is worth reaching for and celebrating, and has been part of the American promise from its very inception.

-- Daniel M. Kimmel, editor, OnTheIssues.org, May 2021