A review by candecast
Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality by Danielle S. Allen

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.