Non-fiction, History: American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence

THE BARE FACTS

Title: American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence
Author: Pauline Maier
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date of Publication: 1997
Pages: 304 (but almost 1/3 of that is appendices)
Grade That Means Nothing Coming From Me: B-

SO BASICALLY, IT’S ABOUT…

How the Declaration of Independence got written, why it used the words it did, where it cribbed the bulk of its material from, and how interpretation has influenced the very nature of America over time.

WHY’D YOU WANNA READ THAT?

I’m a big fan of the Declaration of Independence. And, having seen 1776 far too many times, it seemed appropriate to try and get a more scholarly take on the story of its creation. Plus, my mother was happy to lend it out in light of her recent move. (It’s possible she may not want it back for that very reason.)

AND HOW’D THAT WORK OUT FOR YOU?

Early in the book, it is suggested that this was originally intended as a brief text for younger readers. This might explain why so many students dislike their American history classes. This is dry, dry, dry. Very well researched, meticulously explained, but very slow going. And perhaps the greatest crime of the book is that it doesn’t have to be this way. Maier demonstrates that she is a skilled storyteller, and the book’s first section flies along at a brisk pace. And then it runs into the quicksand of literary analysis, and although the story does pick up again, it never quite recovers from a deadly-dull midsection.

This is almost certainly because of the way Maier has chosen to break down her story into distinct sections. Part I is the days leading up to the Second Continental Congress, and it’s as thrilling as this book gets. Following the debates in each colony, we see what each group of delegates is bringing to the table, and chart the unlikely path to independence. In the aforementioned 1776, Benjamin Franklin describes revolutions as being like bastard children: half-improvised and half-compromised. Maier does a stellar job of plotting out the mix of improvisation and compromise that results in passage of the historic resolution. With this in mind, we can now turn to the document itself.

This is where we immediately get into trouble. Part II concerns the many resolutions, declarations, and announcements of independence that occurred alongside that of the delegates in Philadelphia. And although it is essential for establishing the mood of the country, it becomes hard to care what was in the minds of specific groups of tradesmen or individual communities in Massachusetts. Interesting, perhaps, but far from essential to the story at hand. With so many excerpts from so many declarations, it becomes a wearying series of “variations on a theme.” By the time we enter Part III, a line by line review of Thomas Jefferson’s original draft and the edits made by Congress, it’s easy to feel a little shell-shocked by the whole thing. Part IV returns to the sweep of history, following the falling and rising esteem in which the Declaration is held, and is compelling in its own right. But the damage is done. Essentially, Maier is a great storyteller, but a boring analyst.

SHOULD I READ THIS?

The answer “yes” presumes a great interest in either the history of America’s independence or the deconstruction of public documents. Maier is not particularly welcoming to those who don’t bring that previous commitment with them. If you can clear that hurdle, American Scripture is a worth addition to the list of books that interpret history through the important speeches and proclamations of the day.

Shane Wilson used to edit The Greenroom, and writes the blog Last Wilson Testaments.