The Declaration of Independence: A Global History

by David Armitage

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674020276
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	07/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	523 KB

About the Author

David Armitage is Professor of History at Harvard University.

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

What People are Saying About This

This concise, readable book makes a powerful contribution to scholarship on the Declaration of Independence. From a global perspective, it seems, the document’s significance lies less in its second paragraph (‘all men are created equal’) than in its conclusion, where it declared independence. Armitage’s argument might provoke some opposition, but his evidence—ignored by previous scholars—needs to be taken very seriously.

Pauline Maier

This concise, readable book makes a powerful contribution to scholarship on the Declaration of Independence. From a global perspective, it seems, the document’s significance lies less in its second paragraph (‘all men are created equal’) than in its conclusion, where it declared independence. Armitage’s argument might provoke some opposition, but his evidence—ignored by previous scholars—needs to be taken very seriously.
— Pauline Maier, author of American Scripture

Peter S. Onuf

In this brilliant work, Armitage not only illuminates the American founding but offers a provocative perspective on the modern world as a whole. There is nothing on the American Declaration that compares with this extraordinary book.
— Peter S. Onuf, author of Jefferson's Empire

Christopher Bayly

David Armitage's fascinating and lucidly written book will establish itself as a key contribution to what is virtually a new field of study: the transnational history of ideas.

— Christopher Bayly, co-author of Forgotten Armies and Forgotten Wars

Editorial Reviews

Harvard history professor Armitage (Greater Britain, 1516- 1776: Essays in Atlantic History) examines how America's Declaration of Independence influenced the revolutionary struggles of people around the world. Armitage begins by teasing out the world as the Declaration imagined it: the international community consisted of "peoples linked by both benign and malign forms of commerce," as well as divided by warfare and "threatened by outlaw powers." He then describes how the world reacted to America's Declaration: it almost immediately sparked debate about the basis on which a state was legitimate. Finally, Armitage traces the ripple effects of the Declaration: today half the world's countries have such declarations. The author compares and contrasts these other documents with the American one, showing how other nascent nations sometimes drew on America's language and ideas, such as a statement of grievances. Armitage suggests that this succession of declarations constitutes "a major transition in world history": what was once a world of empires has become a world of sovereign states. This core argument is fascinating and significant, though lengthy appendixes, including several declarations, will interest primarily scholars. (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Armitage (history, Harvard Univ.; The Ideological Origins of the British Empire) 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. Highly recommended for public and university libraries.-Steven Puro, St. Louis Univ. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

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.

Harvard International Review - Glenda Sluga

This concise, readable book makes a powerful contribution to scholarship on the Declaration of Independence. From a global perspective, it seems, the document’s significance lies less in its second paragraph (‘all men are created equal’) than in its conclusion, where it declared independence. Armitage’s argument might provoke some opposition, but his evidence—ignored by previous scholars—needs to be taken very seriously.

Pauline Maier

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.

Harvard Book Review - Alexander Bevilacqua

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.

Times Literary Supplement - Adam I. P. Smith

This manifesto deserves reading by students and adults alike. The Declaration is greatly under-noticed.

Ralph Nader’s Reading List - Ralph Nader

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.

Wall Street Journal - Brendan Simms

David Armitage’s fascinating and lucidly written book will establish itself as a key contribution to what is virtually a new field of study: the transnational history of ideas.

Christopher Bayly

A provocative study of a subject about which one might have thought there was nothing new to report.

Boston Globe - Michael Kenney

Armitage’s readable study restores historical context to our own, truly revolutionary Declaration.

Booklist - Gilbert Taylor

In this brilliant work, Armitage not only illuminates the American founding but offers a provocative perspective on the modern world as a whole. There is nothing on the American Declaration that compares with this extraordinary book.

Peter S. Onuf

[Armitage's] core argument is fascinating and significant.

Publisher's Weekly

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

This manifesto deserves reading by students and adults alike. The Declaration is greatly under-noticed.
— Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader's Reading List

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

A provocative study of a subject about which one might have thought there was nothing new to report.
— Michael Kenney

Boston Globe

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

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

Armitage's readable study restores historical context to our own, truly revolutionary Declaration.
— Gilbert Taylor

Booklist