Another Look at the Declaration: Brad Birzer's 'A Radical Experiment in Liberty'
The latest installment of the Declaration of Independence podcast series
This week’s Power Line podcast series on new books about the Declaration of Independence throws its spotlight on Hilldale College historian Bradley Birzer, whose book is The Declaration of Independence: A Radical Experiment in Liberty, just out last month from Stone House Press.
Prof. Birzer’s book has a somewhat shorter time frame than some of the other books we have discussed in this series, which often take the run-up to the Declaration back to the 1760s if not all the way back to classical antiquity, and while Birzer recounts many of the distant antecedents of the Declaration (most especially Cicero), the heart of the book looks most closely at the years from 1774 through 1776, and ends with useful chapters on the structure of the Declaration, and a review of the reaction to the Declaration right after it burst on the scene in that fateful summer.
The book is relatively compact at about 250 pages. It is an eclectic work that attempts to synthesize a number of competing though by no means mutually exclusive interpretations of the Declaration. Early in the book he allows that, “I have found much to admire among the classical Republicans, the Neo-Whigs, the classical liberals, the Lockeans, the Voeglinians, the Jaffaites, the Straussians, the imperial school, the symbols school, etc. Though I most closely identify with the classical Republicans, my approach to the American Revolution is, to be certain, rather eclectic.”
Along the way, you will learn some fun details, such as the fact that the famous signatures on the Declaration weren’t actually affixed to the document until August 2nd, rather than on July 4th as we otherwise assume.
His conclusion notes that the Declaration was controversial and attracted critics from the moment the ink dried, but thinks, “Theologically, what Christianity proclaimed in terms of human dignity, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed in terms of political dignity.”
I ask him about this statement in our conversation to follow about his highly readable book, which joins a list of his titles including a full scale biography of Russell Kirk, a biography of Charles Carroll—the lone Roman Catholic signer of the Constitution—two books on J.R.R. Tolkien, and, perhaps most unexpected, a biography of Neal Peart, the late great drummer for Rush. I neglected to ask him if he might consider a biography of Peart’s successor, Anika Nilles, just now beginning a revival tour with Rush. Maybe an excuse for the long promised/threatened podcast on prog rock (Brad is a fan).
As usual, listen or download here, or on Ricochet:
Many politicians are short of dignity. Do they sense this dimension of the Declaration on some level?
I am currently reading "Proclaiming Liberty" by Timothy Sandefur, who was a previous guest of yours Steven, and I am hearing some parallel in what I have read and what is being discussed with Prof. Birzer. When Prof. Birzer say's the Brits started "messing with our common law" rang a big bell for me to what I was just reading last night. This left me wondering, 'why did the colonists wait so long to declare independence?.' But then it takes time for an egg to boil, to reach it's hardness. And then again, declaring independence from Great Britain was no small thing now was it. Anyhow, enjoying the book by Sandefur, and this discussion with Prof. Birzer. Since his book is only 250 pages it would perhaps make a great postcursor to my reading of Sandefur.