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lirewoodis's review against another edition
3.0
This book was difficult for me. The author’s voice and writing style lacked resonance, though her exposition was rich.
I found value in the tedious examination of the DoI, where the author clearly has much training and expertise. Her insights and love of language and syntax come through abundantly, and I imagine she is an amazing lecturer.
There were many times I thought the author was belaboring a point and trying to be too friendly with the audience. A more thorough editing, I believe, would have done wonders. The same argument could have been made in 75 less pages without giving up much, if any, of the in-depth close reading and analysis.
I found value in the tedious examination of the DoI, where the author clearly has much training and expertise. Her insights and love of language and syntax come through abundantly, and I imagine she is an amazing lecturer.
There were many times I thought the author was belaboring a point and trying to be too friendly with the audience. A more thorough editing, I believe, would have done wonders. The same argument could have been made in 75 less pages without giving up much, if any, of the in-depth close reading and analysis.
heregrim's review against another edition
4.0
Political philosophy and a great break down of how the Declaration of Independence is structured and the step by step meaning of that structure. The book begins with discussing democratic writing, and moves to break down the declaration sentence by sentence to gain an understanding of what the writers meant and the focus becomes how the founders implemented 6 facets of equality into the document. This was a fantastic read if you want a deeper view into HOW the declaration encourages equality as a core belief WITH freedom.
drbobcornwall's review against another edition
4.0
I first heard the author being interviewed on NPR. I was intrigued by her discussion of the Declaration of Independence, how she had used it as a reading assignment in adult ed class, and how the slow deliberate reading of the text of this important document brought out important insights.
Here premise is this. The Declaration of Independence is about equality. While there is in the Declaration a call for freedom, it is freedom to embrace equality. The colonials wanted the king to see them as equals deserving proper treatment. Because the king wasn't giving them equality they were declaring their freedom.
Much more here -- but it is a most insightful read.
Here premise is this. The Declaration of Independence is about equality. While there is in the Declaration a call for freedom, it is freedom to embrace equality. The colonials wanted the king to see them as equals deserving proper treatment. Because the king wasn't giving them equality they were declaring their freedom.
Much more here -- but it is a most insightful read.
paigeturner26's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
If you ever need a book to help you understand American history and its beginnings, this is a fantastic book to read in order to grapple with the Declaration's true intentions and goals.
tinyplanet's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Allen very carefully (and at length) examines and interprets the Declaration of Independence. She skirts the historical to attend to the philosophical and describes what political inspiration we can take for today. From structure, diction, and the democratic writing process, she claims five facets of equality are baked into the Declaration and that equality is the base of freedom. Her argument is compelling and somewhat inspirational: by virtue of our equality, we all have a place in political judgement and we will inch towards a better government as a collective.
In addition, Allen touches on some controversial topics related to the Declaration, like religion, the hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson as a slave owner, the treatment of Indigenous peoples, the Confederacy, and segregation. Reading the initial drafts of the Declaration actually improved my opinion of Jefferson. While I disagree with some of her discussion about religion, she does provide interesting reasoning on why referencing God as a Supreme Judge is important for the colonists' claim to independence in a time lacking an international body to recognize succession.
The book is slow going. At first I was intimidated by the number of chapters (50!), but this allows for reflection every few pages. Allen has worked hard to make the analysis accessible by clearly spelling out her conclusions, although the repetition can be tiring. Some of her writing uses advanced vocabulary, but she does frequently boil down the text of the Declaration and the most important analysis into plain language and helpful analogies.
In addition, Allen touches on some controversial topics related to the Declaration, like religion, the hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson as a slave owner, the treatment of Indigenous peoples, the Confederacy, and segregation. Reading the initial drafts of the Declaration actually improved my opinion of Jefferson. While I disagree with some of her discussion about religion, she does provide interesting reasoning on why referencing God as a Supreme Judge is important for the colonists' claim to independence in a time lacking an international body to recognize succession.
The book is slow going. At first I was intimidated by the number of chapters (50!), but this allows for reflection every few pages. Allen has worked hard to make the analysis accessible by clearly spelling out her conclusions, although the repetition can be tiring. Some of her writing uses advanced vocabulary, but she does frequently boil down the text of the Declaration and the most important analysis into plain language and helpful analogies.
bellel's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
maddiesmith44's review against another edition
3.0
I had to read this for one of my classes. Boring, but also interesting/important to hear a Black woman’s interpretation of the DoI
candecast's review against another edition
5.0
Shamefully, at 70 years of age, I had never read the Declaration of Independence (DoI). When I was in high school, I was incorrigible, truant, and always swam against the flow. Now, I realize the error of my ways, and I decided to complete one of many of my outstanding high school assignments. How many of us have read the DoI? Allen asks; is the DoI an historical event or a philosophical statement. I would have to go with the latter, but I went with the former before this reading. Allen argues that the correct way to read the DoI is slowly. Read it slowly and take it apart sentence by sentence. She guides us expertly. She asks us to think about the deeper meaning of words like equality, reciprocity, and egalitarianism; she also closely examines what she refers to as collective intelligence, and the art of democratic writing demonstrated by the "group of five" who wrote the DoI. Allen has this one interesting idiosyncrasy of alternating the pronouns he and she throughout the book. I got a kick out of that. Egalitarian for sure.
nerdella_reads's review against another edition
5.0
This was a difficult book to get through, but I know its content is important for everyone to understand. Among the many statements the author has to make about the Declaration of Independence is this; that true equality cannot exist if one person can hurt another and that other person has no way to push back and have their injuries redressed.