It goes without saying that something very remarkable happened 250 years ago on July 4th, 1776. The Revolution was already well underway; In June, the Second Continental Congress appointed a “Committee of Five” consisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman to draft what over the course of a month became the Declaration of Independence from the British Crown. Congress approved their draft language on July 4th, the date that would go on to become our national holiday. By the end of the 1700s however, after the Revolutionary War was won, something very American began to happen: we began to argue about the Declaration, as the political landscape of our young nation evolved. Was it too British in tone, too French? It wasn’t until the decades after the War of 1812 that its status as a founding document, alongside the Constitution and Bill of Rights became more set in stone.
That early dissent reflects the beginning of a rich tradition spanning the ensuing 250 years of continuous reexamination of our founding documents, our government, what it means to be a democracy, who gets to participate, and ultimately how we evolve and grow as a country in a way that honors the intent of our founders, yet allows us to thrive in the 21st century. The Greatest Sentence Ever Written by Walter Isaacson is a recent example of this effort, diving into the past and present nuances of the most quoted segment of the Declaration: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
This continuous reexamination is possible because we have access to these documents as well as the research and commentary around them, and that’s where your local public library comes in. To bolster this access and encourage curiosity, Santa Cruz Public Libraries used a generous gift from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation to purchase fresh, updated, and new titles that pertain to these defining works, how government operates, and how we have evolved as a country since 1776. In our collections you’ll find fresh copies of works by founders including Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton and Paine. You’ll find commentary by later writers such as Emerson, de Tocqueville, and Whitman. You’ll find contemporary analysis from familiar names like Burns, Klinenberg, Lepore, McCullough, Cox Richardson and Solnit. A selection of these titles are available in the “250th Reads” list under the Recommended Reads section of our new Library App, including Isaacson’s.
Libraries have long been a resource for people who want to start a revolution. Many of these are personal -learn a new skill, find insights to change your lifestyle, or connect with a community organization. Our resources can also take you far beyond the personal by providing the history and information that may inspire you to follow the founders by serving in government or running for office. These thoughts and ideas are the ongoing embodiment of the values found in the Declaration of Independence.
Happy Independence Day from Santa Cruz Public Libraries!
Christopher Platt
