Jason M. Artman Mendota High School

Students first learn of Thomas Jefferson's writing the Declaration of Independence when they are very young. The story is told in elementary, junior high, and high school history classes around the nation. But Pauline Maier can teach all of us incredible lessons in American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence.

Perhaps the first lesson comes when observing the title. Maier chooses 46 scripture," a word she does not use lightly, as she discusses the lasting influence of the Declaration of Independence both as it is understood and misunderstood by Americans two hundred years after Jefferson's writing. The word "scripture" makes the reader realize that the Declaration is considered by many people a highly regarded document offering some moral guidance.

The greatest lesson for me came in Maier's description of Jefferson's intended purpose in writing the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson had a job to do unite an American public, army, and Continental Congress, all of which were divided as to how to handle the British crown, approaching military conflict, and ultimately, British rule. Maier reminds us that declaring independence was not as easy a decision as it may appear in hindsight. As teachers of American history, we cover a number of topics in which we challenge our students to put themselves in the shoes of those who have walked through history before them. We challenge students to think of the moral, ethical, and military values Harry Truman had to weigh in considering whether to drop the atomic bomb. We challenge students to consider both sides of a number of historic debates in American politics and the American court system. We should be challenging our students to see the many sides in the independence debate and understand how Thomas Jefferson used a number of regional arguments to create a document that represented a diverse group of people.

Maier raises for me a very valuable question: Did Thomas Jefferson write a document with a shortterm purpose, or did he knowingly write a document that would have lasting impact for a number of years? To me, the evidence Maier offers points to the former. Had the document been meant to have a lasting impact on American government, the document itself would have been made to last. The original Declaration was passed around often, not preserved immediately. Within years of its publication, people were unaware of the history of the document, and only late in the lives of Jefferson and John Adams did anyone seem interested in the creation of the Declaration of Independence. The document, it seems, had served it purpose and life moved on. Only later, and still today, did history scholars take an interest in how the document was created.

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