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
- Chapter 15, Document 18: Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Debates in Congress(July 2-4, 1776)
Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream” speech
Jaffa, Crisis of the House Divided, chap. 17, esp. 374-76

We the Teachers

Session 1: Intro and the “Apple of Gold”: – The Centrality of the Declaration of Independence in American Political Life