Jul

3

We believe our reverence for sacred founding documents is a long-standing American tradition. It is not. The Declaration of Independence was of so little contemporary importance that the very thing everyone knows about it (no one has ever actually read the thing) — John Hancock's large signature was not even seen by the colonists/rebels. The first broadsides — only about 200 were even printed — omitted the names of the people who signed the thing. Washington did have it read to the troops when he received a copy; but he had something read to the troops every morning.

The document that is appropriate to the season is Common Sense. That was the Declaration of Independence that the colonists/rebels took to heart. They bought a 100,000 copies when it was printed in January 1776; and, in the great American tradition of piracy, another 400,000 were bootlegged within the next year. (Paine spent part of the rest of his life bitching about having been so thoroughly ripped off; we owe the copyright provisions of the Constitution, in large part, to his having complained to EVERYONE from Washington to Franklin.)

The wikipedia article on the physical history of the Declaration is wonderful. This grump recommends it highly — as Travis Birkenstock would say, "two thumbs up".


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