Declaring Independence: Jefferson, Natural Language, and the Culture of Performance - Paperback

by Jay Fliegelman (Author)

A Stanford University Press classic.

Back Jacket

From the simple fact that Jefferson's text was intended to be read aloud as a literal declaration of political independence, Fliegelman has woven a truly brilliant picture of Jefferson, the document, and American politics and letters. . . . The result is a profoundly exciting new way of understanding the Declaration, its author, and the performative act of the Revolution itself.--Isaac Kramnick, Cornell University.
"Will more or less immediately transform current study of 18th-century American literature and culture."--Mitchell Breitwieser, University of California, Berkeley.