'We hold these truths to be self-evident... all men are created equal... with certain inalienable rights... life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' 250 years after they were written, these words remain at once familiar and startling. What do they mean to us today? Do we understand them in the same way the Founders did? Historian and former presidential speechwriter Ted Widmer seeks to answer these questions by returning to where the nation's story began, the Declaration of Independence, to trace the remarkable history of how our national charter came to be and how it has shaped the democratic aspirations of Americans and others for more than two centuries. Weaving together more than sixty fascinating original texts, Widmer finds in the words of succeeding generations of Americans-radicals and conservatives, Civil War combatants and civil rights leaders, presidents and philosophers-the key to understanding the extraordinary durability of America's founding ideas. An expert guide, Widmer introduces us to: the revolutionary writings that set the stage for the Declaration Noah Webster, of dictionary fame, offering a surprising definition of 'equality' the true story of a fake declaration of independence 'discovered' in Mecklenburg, North Carolina, in 1819 searing challenges to the Declaration's philosophical claims by Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton radically divergent readings of the Declaration that contributed to the Civil War, and Abraham Lincoln's vision of a 'new birth of freedom' the ways in which the Declaration inspired civil rights activists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries how the Declaration inspired democratic aspirations globally. The voices gathered here are impassioned, and though often at odds, all are united in the belief that the Declaration reveals something crucial about the American people and the quest for human freedom. As we mark the 250th anniversary of our independence, The Living Declaration encourages us to look anew at a vital American text whose history is still unfolding.
| ISBN: | 9781598538441 |
| Publication date: | 23rd June 2026 |
| Author: | Ted Widmer |
| Publisher: | The Library of America an imprint of Penguin Random House Group |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 275 pages |
| Genres: |
History |
'We hold these truths to be self-evident... all men are created equal... with certain inalienable rights... life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' 250 years after they were written, these words remain at once familiar and startling. What do they mean to us today? Do we understand them in the same way the Founders did? Historian and former presidential speechwriter Ted Widmer seeks to answer these questions by returning to where the nation's story began, the Declaration of Independence, to trace the remarkable history of how our national charter came to be and how it has shaped the democratic aspirations of Americans and others for more than two centuries. Weaving together more than sixty fascinating original texts, Widmer finds in the words of succeeding generations of Americans-radicals and conservatives, Civil War combatants and civil rights leaders, presidents and philosophers-the key to understanding the extraordinary durability of America's founding ideas. An expert guide, Widmer introduces us to: the revolutionary writings that set the stage for the Declaration Noah Webster, of dictionary fame, offering a surprising definition of 'equality' the true story of a fake declaration of independence 'discovered' in Mecklenburg, North Carolina, in 1819 searing challenges to the Declaration's philosophical claims by Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton radically divergent readings of the Declaration that contributed to the Civil War, and Abraham Lincoln's vision of a 'new birth of freedom' the ways in which the Declaration inspired civil rights activists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries how the Declaration inspired democratic aspirations globally. The voices gathered here are impassioned, and though often at odds, all are united in the belief that the Declaration reveals something crucial about the American people and the quest for human freedom. As we mark the 250th anniversary of our independence, The Living Declaration encourages us to look anew at a vital American text whose history is still unfolding.
The Living Declaration features in the following genres: History
The Living Declaration is available in Hardback
The Living Declaration was written by Ted Widmer and published by The Library of America an imprint of Penguin Random House Group
The Living Declaration has 275 pages
£24.29