For Liberty and Equality: The Life and Times of the Declaration of Independence

Description

The Declaration of Independence is one of the most influential documents in modern history, the inspiration for what would become the most powerful democracy in the world. In this sweeping synthesis of the Declaration's impact on American life, Alexander Tsesis offers a deeply researched narrative that highlights the many surprising ways in which this document has influenced American politics, laws, and society. The drafting of the Bill of Rights, the Reconstruction Amendments, the New Deal, and the Civil Rights movement are all heavily indebted to the Declaration's principles of representative government. Tsesis demonstrates that from the founding to the present, the Declaration has played a central role in American political and social advocacy, congressional debates, and presidential decisions. His focus is on how successive generations internalized, adapted, and interpreted its meaning. Tsesis also shines a light on the many American failures to live up to the ideals enshrined in the document. Evenhanded throughout, this sweeping synthesis shows how our founding document shaped America through successive eras, and why its influence has been crucial to the nation and our way of life. Dedication Contents 1. Introduction 2. Becoming Independent 3. The Nation’s Infancy 4. Youthful Republic 5. Compromising for the Sake of Expansion 6. Jacksonian Era Democracy 7. Subordination 8. The Unraveling Bonds of Union 9. Sectional Cataclysm 10. Reconstruction 11. Racial Tensions 12. Advancing Women’s Causes 13. The Changing Face of Labor 14. International Impact and Domestic Advance 15. The Declaration in a New Deal State 16. Independence Principles in the Civil Rights Era 17. Epilogue Acknowledgments Appendix: The Declaration of Independence Notes Index