title: Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality
author:  Danielle S. Allen 
description: The book is a tour de force of close textual analysis.<br /> - <strong>Gordon S. Wood, <em>New York Review of Books</em></strong><br /><br />Our Declaration is an artful, often elegiac meditation on the meaning of Jefferson's famous words for our time. Allen brings the analytical skills of a philosopher, the voice of a gifted memorialist, and the spirit of a soulful humanist to the task at hand, and manages to do something quite rare, find new meaning in Jeffersons understanding of equality.<br /> - <strong>Joseph J. Ellis, author of <em>Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence</em></strong><br /><br /><em>Our Declaration</em> sets forth a bold thesis Allens passion for each of the Declarations 1,337 words is admirable.<br /> - <strong>Steven B. Smith, <em>New York Times Book Review</em></strong><br /><br />This wise and rich book is what we need in these troubled timesa robust and persuasive defense of equality and liberty grounded in our national scripture. Danielle Allen is a towering political philosopher of the democratic art of being and a force for good!<br /> - <strong>Cornel West, author of <em>Democracy Matters: Winning the War on Imperialism</em></strong><br /><br />Danielle Allen celebrates the Declaration of Independence by reading it closelyline by line, comma by commaand invites her fellow citizens to do the same. The result is a richly rewarding book that demonstrates the pleasures of slow reading, the power of words to shape events, and the importance of equality to democratic life.<br /> - <strong>Michael Sandel, author of <em>What Money Cant Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets</em></strong><br /><br />Danielle Allen's poignant and personal reflection on the Declaration of Independence is a rare and singular work[S]he has written a book that throws open a door to a large circle of readers: anyone with a stake in democracy. Her observations about the importance of language in building and sustaining a republic are especially resonant and worthy of the towering rhetoric of the Declaration. Our Declaration holds the promise of both discovery and rediscovery whether you've never read the Declaration or have memorized each of its 1,337 words.<br /> - <strong>Ann Marie Lipinski, curator, Nieman Foundation for Journalism, Harvard University</strong><br /><br /><em>Our Declaration</em> is a primer on all that we have been missing Not just an invaluable civics lesson but also a poignant personal memoir Allen is an evangelist for this romantic moment in American history when men of uncommon vision and political deftness stated their case and listed their grievances against the most powerful nation on Earth.<br /> - <strong>Thane Rosenbaum, <em>The Washington Post</em></strong><br /><br />An astounding new book that should reinvigorate public understanding of the founding document of the United States Reading Ms. Allen makes reading the Declaration meaningful and enjoyablea powerful enough lesson it is't own right.<br /> - <strong>Sarah J. Purcell, <em>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</em></strong><br /><br />At once simple, sharp and deftly executed.<br /> - <strong><em>Kirkus Reviews</em></strong>
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  # Declaration of Independence in American
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### H. L. Mencken
  
  
  This page copyright © 2002 Munsey's.
  
  
  http://www.munseys.com
  
  WHEN THINGS get so balled up that the people of a country got to
  
  
  cut loose from some other country, and go it on their own hook, without
  
  
  asking no permission from nobody, excepting maybe God Almighty, then
  
  
  they ought to let everybody know why they done it, so that everybody
  
  
  can see they are not trying to put nothing over on nobody.
  
  
  All we got to say on this proposition is this: first, me and you is
  
  
  as good as anybody else, and maybe a damn sight better; second, nobody
  
  
  ain't got no right to take away none of our rights; third, every man
  
  
  has got a right to live, to come and go as he pleases, and to have a
  
  
  good time whichever way he likes, so long as he don't interfere with
  
  
  nobody else. That any government that don't give a man them rights
  
  
  ain't worth a damn; also, people ought to 