Politically Motivated Readings of the Declaration of Independence

Abstract

The Declaration of Independence is arguably the most important document in American politics. It is recognized by many as the founding document of the United States and lauded for continuing to have ideological significance in modern politics. However, there are others who would argue that the Declaration of Independence is certainly an important historical document, yet deserves to remain a part of history and has no bearing on modern politics, the future of American politics or continuing political ideology. Regardless of the opinions held, the Declaration of Independence undoubtedly is being used in modern politics by both conservative and liberal political thinkers as a means to justify political platforms.

Interpreting Independence: Rewriting America through Readings of the Declaration of Independence (Chapter 3 - Natural Law & Conservative Declarationism) by Jessica Brand is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License