Tyrants and RoguesTyrants and Rogues

We think of the Declaration of Independence as timeless. We know the sacred phrases: "all men are created equal," "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," "self-evident truths," "certain inalienable rights." These are some of the most important words human beings have ever written. And they are all from the Declaration's preamble, which has inspired people for centuries, including generations of revolutionaries all over the world. But as historian Robert G. Parkinson points out, the Declaration was not written as a timeless statement of political philosophy. It was, rather, produced in the heat of a confusing, bloody, and desperate war. And in that moment, it wasn't high ideals alone the drove the patriots forward. Parkinson's great innovation is to allow us, 250 years on, to see the Declaration as its authors did. For them, the opening paragraphs were not the main event. It was the body of the Declaration--the twenty-seven grievances against King George--that formed the essential part. Even Thomas Jefferson would have been puzzled by history's fixation on his opening sentences. Parkinson takes us into the grievances, giving us stories of the Revolutionary era that are little known today but loomed large for the patriots.