Common Sense Nation : Unlocking the Forgotten Power of the American Idea

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. We Have Heard And Read This Sentence All Our Lives. It Is Perfectly Familiar. But If We Pause Long Enough To Ask Ourselves Why Jefferson Wrote It In Exactly This Way, Questions Quickly Arise. Jefferson Chose To Use Rather Special And Very Precise Terms. He Did Not Simply Claim That We Have These Rights; He Claimed They Are Unalienable. Why Unalienable? Unalienable, Of Course, Means Not Alienable. Why Was The Distinction Between Alienable And Unalienable Rights So Important To The Founders That It Made Its Way Into The Declaration? For That Matter, Where Did It Come From? You Might Almost Get The Impression That The Founders' Examination Of Our Rights Had Focused On Alienable Versus Unalienable Rights-and You Would Be Correct. In Addition, The Declaration Does Not Simply Claim That These Are Truths; It Claims They Are Self-evident Truths. Why Self-evident? The Declaration's Special Claim About Its Truths, It Turns Out, Is The Result Of Those Same Deliberations As A Result Of Which, In The Words Of George Washington, The Rights Of Mankind Were Better Understood And More Clearly Defined Than At Any Former Period. If A Friendly Visitor From Another Country Sat You Down And Asked You With Sincere Interest Why The Declaration Highlights These Very Special Terms, Could You Answer Them Clearly And Accurately And With Confidence? Would You Like To Be Able To? -- Locke’s Revolution – The Founders – The American Enlightenment – The Declaration Of Independence – The Constitution – The Federalist Papers – Religion And The American Enlightenment – Turning Away From The Founders – Common Sense Nation – A Brief History Of “liberalism” – How To Misunderstand The Founders. Robert Curry. Includes Index. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "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." We have heard and read this sentence all our lives. It is perfectly familiar. But if we pause long enough to ask ourselves why Jefferson wrote it in exactly this way, questions quickly arise. Jefferson chose to use rather special and very precise terms. He did not simply claim that we have these rights; he claimed they are unalienable. Why "unalienable"? Unalienable, of course, means not alienable. Why was the distinction between alienable and unalienable rights so important to the Founders that it made its way into the Declaration? For that matter, where did it come from? You might almost get the impression that the Founders' examination of our rights had focused on alienable versus unalienable rights-and you would be correct. In addition, the Declaration does not simply claim that these are truths; it claims they are self-evident truths. Why "self-evident"? The Declaration's special claim about its truths, it turns out, is the result of those same deliberations as a result of which, in the words of George Washington, "the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined than at any former period." If a friendly visitor from another country sat you down and asked you with sincere interest why the Declaration highlights these very special terms, could you answer them clearly and accurately and with confidence? Would you like to be able to? -- Provided by publisher “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 sentence is perfectly familiar. We know it as a core principle of our founding. But few, if any of us consider why Jefferson wrote it in exactly this way. Why “unalienable rights" and not simply rights? Why “self-evident" truths and not simply truths? Why does the Declaration make these distinctions? Do they really matter? If these questions are challenging or Jefferson's words seem esoteric, it is because we no longer conduct our politics in the language of the Founders and we are no longer able to think as they once thought. In Congress and the media, political arguments are advanced by a torrent of policy studies and “expert" opinions—not on the basis of self-evident truths, unalienable rights, and definitely not in the language of the Founders. Common Sense Nation is a potent re-introduction to the political ideas of the Founders—in their own words and on their terms. It is dedicated to the proposition that the only way to fully unlock the profound and distinctive power of American self-government is to understand it as its inventors did. Common Sense Nation reclaims the language of liberty from entities that prefer to interpret our freedoms for us. For in knowing the Founders as they knew themselves, readers will learn the surprising depths of their own political powers as American citizens.