Looking at the archives, it appears that Your Humble Blogger has never written at length about The Declaration of Independence. I’m surprised, actually; it’s a remarkable and frustrating piece of propaganda, and I’ve spent hours and hours thinking about it.
Today, however, is probably not the best day to criticize the thing (self-evident? self-evident? self-evident my ass!), but it’s a great day to celebrate it. And it really is magnificent. There’s a nice essay by Stephen E. Lucas on the website of the National Archives and Records Administration, which I think does a very good job of drawing attention to the rhetorical successes of Thomas Jefferson (et al), particularly in the way he leads the reader to assume points that are in question, in order to question points of fact. Then, you know, he leads us to accept these points, as they are observable, and then having swallowed those, he leads us to accept his conclusion. Do I seem cynical? I don’t mean to. Mr. Jefferson would have done no better to couch his arguments clumsily or unpersuasively. It wasn’t dishonest, particularly, to place emphasis on the strengths of the argument rather than the weaknesses. He had a job to do, and he did it extremely well.
And, of course, he was right. Or, at least, I agree with the conclusion; it was a good idea to declare independence. The British Government had violated the expectations of the populace, and was destructive of the proper ends of governance. The colonists had tried other remedies, and there was no real hope of their succeeding. The colonies were and of right ought to have been free and independent states. Or at least states independent of the rule of Great Britain. So, today at any rate, I’ll give the man some slack. Someday, though, I really should try to take the thing apart and show you what I think of it.
Of course, Gentle Readers who may not be quite so keen on close analyses of texts should perhaps spend our nation’s birthday just how Ben Franklin would have done it—watching Star Wars at the National Constitution Center!
chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek,
-Vardibidian.
Wow–are they really showing Episode II, the one where the democracy starts to crumble and the evil dictator starts seizing power? Well, I suppose it provides contrast to the holiday… but I somehow doubt this was intentional.
Hunh. I just assumed they were showing IV, the one where an idealistic rabble rises up against an insane and evil despot. That’ll larn me to look at the actual poster.
Thanks,
-V.