Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Indepedence

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Summary: The "Moral Sense" of Jefferson's Declaration
Review: Garry Wills "Inventing America" is a interesting and unconventional take on the thought of Thomas Jefferson and his authorship of the Declaration of Independence. Wills rejects the traditional "Lockean" view and instead puts forward a different and, I believe, valid hypothesis. Wills finds the philosophy of the Declaration in Jefferson's reading of the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, Francis Hutchenson, Thomas Reid, David Hume, and Lord Kames. These thinkers beleived, along with Jefferson, that man had an inate "moral sense" which man him human and governed the affairs of society. Wills book starts out slow when talking about the Decalrations beginnings, and the early Enlightenment influence, but picks up when he relates these thought to Jefferson.

Chapters 16 and 22 are particularly good since they deal with Jefferson's views on slavery. Wills correctly shows Jefferson always thought blacks fully human with a moral sense and integrity. Although he found their intelligence possibly below other races he never rejected their humanity nor their right "as a people" to be free. Chapter 22 show the fallacies behind modern critisism about simply "freeing" the slaves. Wills shows how unrealistic and quite impossible a wholesale emancipation in colonial Virginia would have been. Instead Jefferson wants freedom and education for the blacks, in their own nation, colinized to Africa where they could live free "as a people". Overall a great book.

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Summary: Thomas Jefferson's World
Review: Garry Wills succeeds in getting the reader inside the cultural world of Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers. In this effort, he disentangles what we make of the Declaration of Independence in modern culture from its meaning for the authors and readers of 1776, and the differences between Jefferson's version and that finally approved by the Continental Congress. The science, morals, and sentiments of 18th century culture were all factors that played strongly in what Jefferson wrote.

Seriously, how could Jefferson write that it is self-evident that all men are created equal while personally holding slaves? Discussed at length, then balanced by discussion of 18th century obsessions with the sentiments one experiences in the presence of a natural wonder, such as the natural bridge of Virginia. The attempt by 18th century philosophers to develop mathematical theories of happiness and virtue has to evoke a chuckle in any reader. But... it was part of an Enlightenment worldview seeking mechanical models of human behavior and society. This enthusiasm for scientific approach to the affairs of life also resulted in the search for governmental machinery to run smoothly and maintain order and liberty simultaneously, that culminated in the U.S. Constitution thirteen years later.

Wills discusses at length the importance and meaning of the specific additions and deletions from Jefferson's draft to the final version, and Jefferson's lifelong preference for his original, unedited version. The number of seeming detours that the author makes, in the interest of painting a picture of 18th century culture, results in a book that seems long than necessary. The number of scholarly corrections based on comparing commonly held beliefs to the original documents is almost oppressive, however fascinating they may be.

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Summary: Missing an "N"
Review: To the staff of Amazon, please correct the typo in the title of this book? The word "Independence" is listed as "Indepedence".

Thank you.

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Summary: Some bases and realities of the Declaration of Independence
Review: Wills' "Inventing America" is a good, though somewhat mixed, effort in deconstructing the Declaration of Independence. The language and meaning of the Declaration are analyzed in the context of the times, which were at the height of the Enlightenment. In addition, some factual basics of the Declaration are reexamined.


The book is equal parts the Declaration and the thinking of Thomas Jefferson and others. Contrary to the view of many in the 20th century that Jefferson was a Lockean individualist who stressed private property rights, the author shows that Scottish moral philosophers, the leading intellectuals and teachers of the mid 18th century, exerted by far the most influence on Jefferson. An essential aspect of their thinking was that man had an innate moral sense which resulted in the exercise of "benevolence" towards their fellow men. It was a distinctly social orientation. The author is rather convincing in demonstrating that the Declaration gains meaning only when understood as reflecting that thinking. Jefferson's original effort, which he much preferred, is contrasted with the final version, edited by the whole Congress, throughout the book and reinforces the author's insights.


There are any number of other clarifications. Petitioning the King or Parliament to seek redress for wrongs was a well-established tradition. The Continental Congress in 1774-75 did just that. Those petitions were enumerated in the Declaration. The American Revolution was viewed as similar to the Glorious Revolution in England in 1688, where an oppressive king was dethroned. The American Revolution was not considered to be a rebellion or a revolt, but an exercise of the rights of Englishmen. The Declaration of Independence was a restatement of the actual independence that was declared by vote by the Continental Congress on July 2, not the Fourth. Furthermore, the signing of the Declaration by most, but not all of the attendees of the Congress, occurred on August 2, not the Fourth. Interestingly, the Declaration during the Revolutionary period was not the exalted document that it has become. In many ways it was regarded as basically necessary to secure a treaty with France to support the colonies' war effort; it was a means to an end, not the end.


There is much to learn in this book, but it is not without its problems. The chronology and the discussion of important documents surrounding the Declaration during the time of the Congress in the mid-1770s are deficient. The new science of the era, especially all of the observing and cataloguing of details, receives far too much emphasis. The author is continually taking a detour here and there to explore some thought of the times with the yield often not worth the detour. A subject not broached whatsoever, is the legitimacy of the Scottish views of innate moral sensibilities. Those along with natural rights thinking would be considered by many to be no more than ungrounded optimistic faith, hardly anything to base fundamental understandings on. Despite its deficiencies, the book is worthwhile.