Abstract
"Brad Birzer's The Declaration of Independence: A Radical Experiment in Liberty explores the ideas and events that led Americans to independence in 1776. Drawing heavily on the letters, pamphlets, and political arguments of the era, the book traces how a series of imperial crises gradually transformed colonial resistance into a revolutionary movement. Along the way, it reveals how debates about liberty, authority, and the rights of Englishmen shaped the political consciousness of the American colonies. Influenced by classical learning, the English constitutional tradition, Protestant political culture, and the philosophy of natural rights, this book presents the Declaration of Independence as both radical and deeply rooted in inherited traditions. Birzer situates the document within the intellectual world of the founding generation, highlighting the ideas that informed Jefferson's famous assertion that all are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights. In doing so, the book shows how the Declaration became the defining statement of the American experiment in liberty."--
Includes most cited authors by founders (page 254) and index.