As far as shiny objects in history go, The Declaration of Independence is definitely a worthy jewel…yet, at over thirteen hundred words it is clearly too extensive for the short attention spans of our emerging generations and their technologies. Even with a popular modern musical about the author, I suspect there is little chance that I could attract many of them to a somewhat longer document from that era, and a favorite of mine, for greater context: The Farmer Refuted by Alexander Hamilton (February 23, 1775). Even less probable, a 650-plus page book for a wonderfully expanded context: 1775: A Good Year for Revolution by Kevin Phillips (2013). All very unfortunate…since, as we all have been learning in this “preferred narrative” driven world we now occupy, context is everything.

Since I am a fan of narrative killing context, I am not just going to sit here idle this time. Here, still in the early evening on this Independence Day 2023, I present some context in the following seven brief passages from that second source about the historical jewel much in our thoughts today:

#1:

On July 6, 1775, not quite three weeks after the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Second Continental Congress…issu[ed] its not very famous Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, largely penned by Thomas Jefferson. Those paragraphs, now all but forgotten, justified resort to force by the impossibility of unconditional submission to Great Britain. – Page 227

#2:

Historians generally agree that Jefferson was picked to draft the Declaration of Independence principally because of his writing skills, but also because the more prominent men in the endgame, John Adams and R. H. Lee, had seemingly greater tasks to perform… – Page 433-434

#3:

In the spring of 1776, Jefferson was again drawn to Virginia, which was about to draft a constitution to guide its independent and republican future. Here his “black Catalogue of unprovoked injuries” moved center stage, because the king had to be made tyrant enough to justify revolution. …much of the indictment quickly reappeared in his Philadelphia drafts of the Declaration of Independence. – Page 434

#4:

In 1822, reacting to a comment by Adams that “there is not an idea in it but what had been hackneyed in Congress for two years before,” the Virginian did not disagree. … … – Page 435

#5:

The indictment of a list of tyrannies was needed to overcome the legal handicap to the Americans of staging mere civil war. Tyranny was a required just cause for seeking independence. And as Samuel Adams explained, “No foreign Power can consistently yield Comfort to Rebels, or enter into any kind of Treaty with these Colonies until they declare themselves free and independent. – Page 436

#6:

…as a political document for 1776, the Declaration was “deliberately unexceptional,” … As such, it is not unfair to consider much of the text as historical boilerplate of an elevated sort.

“One of the problems with the early history of the Declaration of Independence is that there is so little of it.” said author Garry Wills in Inventing America. Minimal attention was paid to who had authored the document or its key parts until Jefferson was seeking the presidency in 1796. Thereafter party politics and rhetoric gilded Jefferson’s role, although in 1819, 1822, and 1825, he was put somewhat on the defensive by plagiarism charges. This is the period during which he emphasized trying not to be original. – Pages 436-437

#7:

Understanding what the document was – and more important, what it was not – is vital to understanding what happened during the spring of 1776. By doing so, we can move beyond the worshipful preoccupation with the Declaration and the year 1776, which has distorted the study and memory of the early stage of the American Revolution. – Page 437

Our celebration today should recognize the importance of the document…but, more importantly, it should strive to expand the understanding of the greater acts associated with the evolution and signing of it and that this celebrated date marks a step…a critical step…but one of many steps in a much longer process that led to independence, liberty, and so much more.

While we can recognize that longer process quite easily from this very distant perspective, such processes and counter-processes are not always easy to see while the game is unfolding all around you. Many refused/refuse to take an honest look. We celebrate by name those who were able to see the drive toward independence with clarity and act to advance the cause. Rest assured, there were also those who could see and did little or nothing…or actively pushed in the other direction…and I am not a fan of letting the these characters be easily forgotten by history.

As always, 2024 looms large.