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The Declaration of Independence
----
Its extraordinary merits as a work
of political prose
Five sections
1. introduction,
• 2. preamble,
• 3. indictment of George III,
• 4. denunciation of British people, and
• 5. conclusion.
Intro (one sentence)
• elevates quarrel from petty political dispute to major event
• dignifies Revolution as contest of principle • implies American cause has special claim to moral
legitimacy– —all without mentioning England or America by name.
• philosophical objectivity• "necessary”: deterministic • labeling Americans "one people" and British
"another"
Preamble
• also universal in tone and scope; no explicit ref to B-A conflict
• five sentences—202 words
• stately and dignified tone —from eighteenth century Style Periodique
• Jefferson's readings
• structural unity
How is it unified?
• Proposition 1: All men are created equal.• Proposition 2: They [all men, from proposition 1]
are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
• Proposition 3: Among these [man's unalienable rights, from proposition 2] are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
• Proposition 4: To secure these rights [man's unalienable rights, from propositions 2 and 3] governments are instituted among men.
• Proposition 5: Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [securing man's unalienable rights, from propositions 2-4], it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.
Indictment of King George
• transitional sentence
• first explicit reference to British-American conflict
• parallel structure reinforces the parallel movement of ideas
• proof ("let Facts be submitted to a candid world. ")
• facts = current meaning of something that had actually occurred
• word also derived from the Latin facere, to do. Its earliest meaning in
• English was "a thing done or performed"--an action or deed. –
• (evil deed, in this case)
Denunciation of British People
• "Nor" shifts attention from George III to the colonists' "British brethren."
• "have we" of first sentence neatly reversed in the "We have" at start of second.
• closing words--"Enemies in War, in Peace Friends"--employ chiasmus
• much alliteration: – "British brethren," "time to time," "common kindred,"
"which would," – "connections and correspondence."
Final section
• coupling of "our sacred Honor" with "our Lives" and "our Fortunes" creates trilogy
• concept of honor
• final sentence completes metamorphosis
• impersonal, even philosophical voice – to –
• drama and tensions