Myths of the Declaration of Independence

By RALPH E. SHAFFER

Stephens Media

Critics have been unusually harsh on the teaching of American history. Right wing columnists enjoy ranting on the subject. Professor Diane Ravitch built a career criticizing it. James Loewen toured the lecture circuit denouncing American history texts. George W. Bush, when president, thought our kids weren’t learning enough about the nation’s history. Baloney!

Actually most critics, especially those on the right, are perfectly happy to have grade schoolers taught the old myths their elders grew up with: Washington and the cherry tree and similar canards. The fables we all learned about this week’s holiday are a case in point. Here are some of them:

— The war with England began with a desire for independence. Reconciliation, not independence, was the overwhelming concern of the American rebels at the beginning of the war. They wanted continued membership in the British Empire but without subordination to Parliament. Had Britain been willing to grant that status early in the war, independence would have been delayed indefinitely.

— Thomas Jefferson wrote the document that created American independence. Actually, the motion for independence was made by Richard Henry Lee. Jefferson wrote the formal Declaration explaining the reasons for separating from England.

— Independence was declared on July 4, 1776. Not so. Lee’s resolution declaring the United Colonies free and independent states was adopted on July 2. Jefferson’s formal Declaration, stating the reasons for that action, was approved on July 4.

— Independence was unanimously adopted. Wrong again. The title of the engrossed copy of Jefferson’s Declaration reads “The unanimous Declaration… ” But it wasn’t unanimous at all. Not all delegates to the Congress voted for independence. Not all states supported Lee’s resolution on July 2 or Jefferson’s Declaration on July 4. New York abstained and did not give its consent to Lee’s Resolution until July 9. Even among those states that did give immediate support to the Resolution several delegates were opposed to the action and some of them left the Congress.

— The Continental Congress declared the independence of the thirteen colonies. Impossible! Jefferson’s Declaration and Lee’s resolution make it appear so, but the Congress lacked such authority. The decision on independence was left to each colonial legislature. Virginia, two months earlier, had already seceded from the Empire. At least nine of the colonial legislatures formally declared their own independence.

— Members of the Continental Congress signed Jefferson’s Declaration on July 4. Wrong again. There was no signing until August, when the engrossed copy was ready for signatures.

— John Adams called for annual celebrations on July 4. Yes, he did write in a letter to Abigail that this day “… will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. It will be celebrated by succeeding generations … with pomp and parades, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore.” But Adams was writing about July 2, the adoption of Lee’s Resolution, not about July 4.

— The Declaration created a new nation, the United States of America. The other myths are harmless enough, but this one shows a gross misunderstanding of the intent of the Continental Congress in July, 1776. The Declaration refers not to a single national government but to thirteen separate independent states united in a common cause to seek independence from Britain.

A careful reading of the closing section of Jefferson’s Declaration makes it very clear that each state was recognized as holding the powers of a sovereign nation.

These myths, however, are so ingrained that politicians and editors will continue to repeat them. An op-ed by an obscure retired professor (the author of this column) will make little headway toward correcting this misinterpretation of the holiday’s significance.