The Declaration of Independence: A Global History

Not only did the Declaration announce the entry of the United States onto the world stage, it became the model for other countries to follow. This unique global perspective demonstrates the singular role of the United States document as a founding statement of our modern world.

Table of Contents:
Contents Introduction 1. The World in the Declaration of Independence 2. The Declaration of Independence in the World 3. A World of Declarations Conclusion Declarations of Independence, 1776–1993 Thomas Jefferson’s “Original Rough Draft” of the Declaration of Independence In Congress, July 4, 1776. A Declaration By the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress Assembled [Jeremy Bentham,] Short Review of theDeclaration (1776) Manifesto of the Province of Flanders [extracts] (January 4, 1790) The Haitian Declaration of Independence (January 1, 1804) The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence (July 5, 1811) Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand (October 28, 1835) The Unanimous Declaration of Independencemade by the Delegates of the People of Texas (March 2,1836) A Declaration of Independence by the Representatives of the People of the Commonwealth of Liberia (July 16, 1847) Declaration of Independence of the Czechoslovak Nation (October 18, 1918) Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam (September 2, 1945) Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (May 14, 1948) The Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Southern Rhodesia); (November 11, 1965) Notes Acknowledgments Index

About the Author :
David Armitage is Professor of History at Harvard University.

Review :
Armitage's readable study restores historical context to our own, truly revolutionary Declaration. -- Gilbert Taylor Booklist 20061115 [Armitage's] core argument is fascinating and significant. Publisher's Weekly 20061016 Armitage presents and analyzes the global influence of the Declaration of Independence, showing the document as a powerful global symbol and a means of generating self-governing nations elsewhere during the 50 years after its creation. In order to understand the declaration's international impact, Armitage examines the development of like declarations in other nations during the 19th century, presenting samples of them from around the world. He seeks to recover 'the meaning of independence that the Declaration claimed for the United States,' and he raises thoughtful questions about the political interdependence among world states. His new perspectives concerning both the domestic and the international context of the declaration demonstrate its importance in the formation of nations as the primary units in global politics. -- Steven Puro Library Journal 20061215 David Armitage's concise and penetrating book, The Declaration of Independence, exemplifies the potential strengths of a truly transnational approach to the writing of history...By looking beyond the borders of the USA, Armitage alters our perspective on the meaning of the Declaration...David Armitage has shed new light on some of the most important questions about the foundations of the modern world by examining a document that is both time-bound and timeless. -- Adam I. P. Smith Times Literary Supplement 20070608 More so than the Constitution...the Declaration has also become a global document, a piece of intellectual and political common property that has transcended the circumstances of its creation and perhaps even the intentions of its authors. Surprisingly, this afterlife has not received systematic and "global" treatment by historians, and David Armitage is to be congratulated on his concise and well-written study of the Declaration as, to use his own words, 'an event, a document, and the beginning of a genre.' He shows that it was first and foremost an "international" document, driven by the need to establish the legitimacy of the united colonies within the state-system and thus their right to conclude alliances against Britain. -- Brendan Simms Wall Street Journal A provocative study of a subject about which one might have thought there was nothing new to report. -- Michael Kenney Boston Globe 20070201 The Declaration of Independence has long been regarded as national property. But where US popular lore sees mirrored in its words the image of the nation, David Armitage sees the reflections of a wider world...this is the story of the emergence of a world of states from a world of empires...Without a doubt, this global history testifies to the power of words and ideas. -- Glenda Sluga Harvard International Review This manifesto deserves reading by students and adults alike. The Declaration is greatly under-noticed. -- Ralph Nader Ralph Nader's Reading List In The Declaration of Independence: A Global History, David Armitage brings original insights and a global perspective to bear on a 1776 Declaration that has become misleadingly familiar. -- Alexander Bevilacqua Harvard Book Review 20070401