The Power Line Show: Ed Larson's 'Why 1776 Matters'

The Power Line Show: Ed Larson's 'Why 1776 Matters'

Most of the books I have been featuring in this series highlight the philosophical and political background of the Declaration, going all the way back to antiquity in some cases, as well as dilating the ongoing controversies about several key aspects of the Declaration, such as the nature of "self-evident truth" or "all men are created equal."  This week's featured book takes a different tack. It is Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters [https://www.amazon.com/Declaring-Independence-Why-1776-Matters/dp/1324078979/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PY961NYH2O3E&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.q1au8I2gbU05rCv93beKh53pMDDwtXOWqtqoe8ou74Z_oxXK_kJsu7xYA51g0BCsgiCp9TJxelvKxXX-TLM6qWJ70YBZoRZch4UmAKd_oZvNu0926ReyUaxMP4f_jiGBANzKjHgJZIoS_LBUr0eEIItFXnkNYS99eHmNCdRpjNCvakd5opeC1pHi5BWtlmWR1jWAQlKJ6Cnf7tfld1jak0U0RMV2Ujz_QG6kNjVD5kQ.HAZ8LTnkzspj84Jgj_0yquefEwsgLUhn6DHRwky7nDg&dib_tag=se&keywords=edward+larson+declaring+independence&qid=1782323065&sprefix=edward+larson%2Caps%2C280&sr=8-1], by Edward J. Larson. Larson is a best-selling author and historian who also happens to teach law right across the hill from me at Pepperdine University. He is the author of more books that I can count at this point, including a previous book that we'll briefly discuss here that won him a Pultizer Prize back in the1990s, Summer for the Gods [https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Gods-Americas-Continuing-Religion/dp/1541646037/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3LIKQTSROIHBE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XH7RTIXS6cAE9ZrH2si6W_uiODV23UY3iWouqvyp1RSlO0XCH9U4kphXEjweZweLJVkjoEDtbh3O36bf1XAysWZQDXLuetEBWp0UQdcLJDXs9aU3hiMan0iKFrZ2iE6l5t_-BEO7GFoIqRFQjQnFdA.rN5NvC8wu8cLBEYj1KYht0O1E-Knp_V2YxhQbtevcKg&dib_tag=se&keywords=edward+larson+summer+for+the+gods&qid=1782325712&sprefix=edward+larson+sumer+for+the+god%2Caps%2C242&sr=8-1], which tells the real story of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1924.  The significance of his new book in this semiquincentennial season is that blends both ideas and events together in a unified narrative of the pivotal year in which the Declaration was promulgated. His thesis is simple, but often overlooked: while the sequential logic of revolution that seems obvious to us today was not necessarily obvious to the rebellious colonies as late the end of 1775. Up until that time, although armed rebellion and serious battles were well under way, the weight of political opinion was still likely on the side of reconciliation with Britain, so long as the British government acknowledged and respected the self-governing rights of its subjects. Just think of the logic of the famous phrase, No taxation without representation, which implies that if the colonists were properly represented in Parliament, taxation would be legitimate by acknowledging the necessity of the consent of not approval of the colonies.  As Ed explains in vivid detail, opinion hardened and very rapidly shifted toward full independence rather than reconciliation starting in the very opening weeks of January 1776. In some ways, the Declaration was a mere culmination of ideas advancing in tandem with events on the ground, so to speak. Thus 1776 deserves its reputation in the annals of the democratic revolution of modern times, but for more reasons that you may have previously perceived.

The Power Line Show: Brad Birzer's 'A Radical Experiment in Liberty'

This week's spotlight on new books about the Declaration of Independence features Hilldale College historian Bradley Birzer, whose book is The Declaration of Independence: A Radical Experiment in Liberty [https://www.amazon.com/Declaration-Independence-Radical-Experiment-Liberty/dp/1630694363/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8NRQMD6DCPYZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._QsYY_QfmVbeb2jij_xZ9egwb1251TD2rbu15OIAVBKrTdE9j2a1wNwam2s4YMvZwe07J0kWI5xCTwOozRnCC4phxp2oQ3uXK4AE8sD1z0qz84tTMIsdlVaYhWhpagdhhk0BnSZ4vJxHjghVFfy4MTufrWD5XzsrJbnJVvEc7vh6gNdMTpo71__ng3NHP_71c91UB_bIAZfrVvMp4BboANEcAAqBM3U6OowO33XxljI.D4rcR9WhNXGLYx1r6jGUvH2CZOctOhS3B0uPqX6cIQE&dib_tag=se&keywords=Bradley+Birzer&qid=1780911143&sprefix=bradley+birzer%2Caps%2C259&sr=8-1], 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. But this just might be the impetus for us to do our long promised/threatened podcast on progressive rock (Brad is a fellow fan, and has long argued that much of progressive rock is hardly "progressive" at all in the current mis-use of that term, but is in fact quite conservative in many ways).

The Power Line Show: Timothy Sandefur's 'Proclaiming Liberty'

We're now only a month away from the July 4 semiquincentennial of the founding of our country, but there's still time to acquire and read through some of the new books appearing to mark the auspicious occasion.  And one of the very best of the very large field of contenders is from Timothy Sandefur, whose day job is Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute's Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation. His brand new book for the occasion is Proclaiming Liberty: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence [https://www.amazon.com/Proclaiming-Liberty-Jefferson-Declaration-Independence/dp/196928403X].  Tim is one of my favorite writers on legal and constitutional matters, because he combines clear-headedness with clear and lively writing—even in his law review articles, which is no mean feat. His books are even more compelling reading. Proclaiming Liberty builds upon and supplements one of his previous superb books from 2014, The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty [https://www.amazon.com/Conscience-Constitution-Declaration-Independence-Liberty/dp/1939709032/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3MC81LO9YAM0P&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1bfX8JCYEw8K-2QSIm851Dqw5Kzf5EVU6hhXIqmqQ2U0zVJEjasBAckx-qex6-oCMngfW4uNlvtZhmBpBaxxSUVWIRp-c1CPk55gBIEQ5Dx0yX46rkYJiq3EP7a58O2kndIsCW_ZRtBsGajjgykNiksoQVQTvVacv_boG19Eq6Mjq236J4LvwhUdNQVqwlXprFyuo_KY8M70Tm5uX-IrLtxlJAPa9GK7j3_iERcfCGs.5nb9AWs7I9V6tU4EmYj8mzWBWyGt74rCaEP0Nms8IME&dib_tag=se&keywords=timothy+sandefur+books&qid=1780442656&sprefix=Timothy+Sandefur%2Caps%2C644&sr=8-2]. As I tell him in our conversation here, I have long had that book on speed-dial for several specific purposes, and I highly recommend it.   If you  paying close attention to the subtitle of the book, you might picked up one detail that suggests the originality of Tim's approach. Most treatments of the Declaration center on Jefferson, but Tim's subtitle puts John Adams first in the order of being, so to speak: it runs 'John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence.' The book is divided into four main sections, and the first one deals with the pre-history of the revolution, or what Tim calls 'The Revolution Before the Revolution,' and traces out the ideas leading up to the Declaration that began to crystalize in the 1760s. Adams is a key figure, but there are many other key figures and concepts that Tim brings out. The payoff comes at the close of the book, where he ably summarizes how best to understand the Declaration, and adding an Afterword on "1776 versus 1619," reminding us that the egregious 1619 Project, somewhat dormant of late, is likely to re-emerge around July 4 to make the case for hating America. Tim's afterword provides the munitions to fight back.

The Power Line How: Michael Auslin's 'National Treasure'

Today's entry in the many books I am featuring in this series is Michael Auslin's National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1668214547/?bestFormat=true&k=national%20treasure%20how%20the%20declaration%20of%20independence%20made%20america&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-bk-ww_k2_1_17_de&crid=30HTGWV5Q7P0D&sprefix=National%20Treasure] Misha, as his friends know him, assures me he didn't actually name the book after the Nic Cage potboiler, but rather thinks the Declaration deserves to be regarded as more than just an important political or merely historical document. And Misha's book is quite different from most of the new books out recently. Although he does incorporate observations on many of the key ideas and concepts in the Declaration, 'National Treasure' is mostly a story about the document itself—its physical handling and travels over the last 250 years. You might think regarding the Declaration as something akin to a sacred relic, and a narrative about its mere custodial issues (which included many threats to its survival in original form, might not be gripping reading, but somehow in Misha's telling it is. Auslin is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, and has taught history at Yale, as well as being one of the nation's leading experts on Asia. All of his work is worth following, which you do on his Substack, The Patowmack Packet [https://patowmackpacket.substack.com].

The Power Line Show: John West on the Declaration, Christian Faith, and Science

Margaret Thatcher once remarked that “Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.” What she had in mind here was the strain of thought that considered America and its founding thought as predominantly a product of enlightenment-era rational philosophy, especially as it crystalized in the work of John Locke. Hence the view of America as a "creedal" nation, founded on reason.   This general account has long attracted criticism for neglecting the contributions of Christianity, and our historical inheritance from England, albeit modified in substantial ways by our colonial and revolutionary experience. These two camps that seem especially irreconcilable for some reason, though it ought to be possible in my mind to achieve a synthesis. Somehow it is seldom attempted, let alone successfully accomplished, so we go on firing from our intellectual fixed fortifications. In this second installment of my special series on the Declaration, we take up one book just out that takes seriously the specifically Christian contributions to the thought of the Declaration and the Founding more generally is John G. West's Endowed by Our Creator: The Bible, Science, and the Battle for America's Soul [https://www.amazon.com/Endowed-Our-Creator-Science-Americas/dp/1637120877/ref=sr_1_1?crid=NTYTG6QHMYEW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.04vX3y_c-fON8fj5tq_yHhpc7rOucQu5vQAjV96nCro.vcwFBblhPSVehdagVgQLFDHjAwDM9Jv3kz9NOw--F1w&dib_tag=se&keywords=john+g.+west+endowed+by+our+creator&qid=1778514287&sprefix=John+G.+West%2Caps%2C197&sr=8-1].   As the title suggests, West devotes considerable time to recounting in vivid and specific detail how Christian faith influenced the Declaration and the Founding, as suggested in the all-important phrase "Endowed by Our Creator." But he adds some interesting and original perspectives on the attacks on the Declaration and its theological-political teaching by drawing out attention to the mid-19th century. As most listeners of this podcast or its cousins know, the Progressives, especially Woodrow Wilson, directly rejected the Declaration and its philosophy of natural rights because Wilson thought Hegel had displaced Locke, but West draws out in detail the other figure that influenced Wilson and the Progressives in their rejection of the founding. Remember that Wilson not only said to ignore the Declaration, but that our Constitution must be understood in Darwinian terms. Thus perhaps the most significant contribution of West's book is he account of how Darwinism, and a number of other evolutionary theorists (some of whom actually preceded Darwin) affected American political thought and prepared the way for the predations of the Progressives.