Session 1: Intro and the "Apple of Gold": - The Centrality of the Declaration of Independence in American Political Life
Focus
Why is it important to understand the Declaration of Independence? What does the Declaration say, and why and how does it say it? What does the Declaration not say, and why and how does it not say it? What is the significance of Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration? What does the Declaration mean, and what does the Declaration not mean?
Readings
- Declaration of Independence
- Thomas Jefferson Letter to Henry Lee
- Thomas Jefferson Letter to Roger Weightman
- Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
- Abraham Lincoln, Fragment on Constitution & Union
- Kurland and Lerner, The Founders’ Constitution
- Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream” speech
- Jaffa, Crisis of the House Divided, chap. 17, esp. 374-76
