On tuesday, october 2, the National Archives will host a for jamesook launch and mcphersons newest book mcphersons newest book. Todays lecturer is alexander for libertyhor of and equality the life and times of the declaration of independence. He has also written on slavery and reconstruction, the 13th. Mendment, and American Freedom they have appeared or will in a variety of lobar views across the country including the columbia law review, cornell law review, university of california davis law review, Boston College log review, connecticut log review, and wake log review. Is a frequentis presenter nationwide on issues regarding constitutional law, civil rights, reconstruction of the american creed, and hate speech legislation. Please join me in welcoming tsesis to the National Archives. [applause] thank you so much for that kind introduction and i appreciate you making time to hear this presentation. From the time of its signing on july 4, 17 76, the declaration of independence has set the standard for fair governance, both as far as individual rights and the common good. While the physical happy thats held the physical copy thats held here in the national faded, it continues to define us as a people. Indeed, the copy that is housed here has more signatures than the original had. The original declaration of independence was only signed by two people the president of the Continental Congress, john hancock, and the secretary of the Continental Congress. The version you can see here under our armed guard contains 56 signatures, including that of ,uture president john adams second president of the United States, inventor benjamin franklin, and Richard Henry lee, who was first to put forward the vote for independence in the Continental Congress. The version here has more signatures because of what was immediately published afterward. The new york delegates of the Continental Congress did not even receive permission to vote for independence until july 9 and five of the pennsylvania delegates who signed the declaration of independence were elected to congress 16 days after july 4. Whats even more curious is one of the pennsylvania delegates of signed the declaration independence voted against the declaration of independence of july 4, and yet signed it. The more curious, one of delegates of delaware was present at july 4 but did not 1781until 1777 or perhaps were not sure. What is it then that we treasure . I believe it is the values that are encompassed in that written text. The declaration of independence set the ethos for the United States and its statements on inalienable rights and equality have for over two centuries inspire those who fought against racism and xenophobia. Our definition of equality is not static. It has been formed over two centuries. Memorable phrases about inalienable rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and a variety of the things that we remember as a entered our history and have become the guideposts both for federal governance as well as representative democracy. Claims in myhe for liberty andi equality the life and times of the declaration of independence , i argue that from the amount very founding, leaders and the American Public alike took the declaration of independence to be more than a butement of sovereignty. Ore a manifesto samuel adams when he was acting governor of the state of massachusetts told the state that when representatives agreed that all men are created equal and are endowed with certain inalienable rights, they agreed that liberty and equality would be the creed of the United States. The declaration of independence americanecame part of thought because Thomas Jefferson tapped into ordinary political thought of it today. At the time, politics was everywhere in pubs, in public squares, on newspaper pages. Cspan is a vehicle that has become very much what newspapers were of that day. Anchoreds formulation the main street political thought of his day and tapped into political conscience. In drafting the declaration of independence, he accepted universal concepts of natural rights as well as those that had on his word from philosophers like john locke. Reality was different on the ground. The future president James Madison wrote that the National Quality of men is the only basis on which universal justice, order, and freedom can firmly be built and permanently secured. These high sounding rights did not apply to all of humanity because he was a slaveowner, as was jefferson throughout the course of his life. Others proved to be much truer to those ideals than even its father. An 1800r at Independence Day celebration bemoaned that those who were in power have not relied on the Great American truths that were encompassed in the resolution. Hat all men were created equal that declaration statement of must apply to all people, men and women. The fate ofoaned africa, which had suffered murders, robberies, and burnings. The declaration of independence, contrary to the hopes of prominent revolutionary benjamin rush, adoption of the declaration of independence did not put a swift end to slavery swift slavery. Ugh both of the founding generations end of the generations that followed understood the humanitarian was incompatible with slavery. In many years, several books on the declaration of independence have mistakenly stated that it voice until the war of 1812. Youll see the historical record does not bear this out. Older people and public speakers here the declaration from the get go. Ofwas adopted as a statement rights, not only a justification for independence or merely empty rhetoric. Writer in 1787 so the proclamation that all men have inalienable rights must refer to blacks as much as whites, making those who exploited them for forced labor ridiculous and wicked. In a notable book by new jersey quaker david cooper published two sidebyside columns. On one side, he courted the declaration of independence and on the other column, he showed the hypocrisy of continued availabilityte the of these principles in the mainstream thought. Society of the promotion or abolition of slavery adopted the declaration , as did constitution the 1833 constitution of the american Antislavery Society, the declaration of independence the cornerstone of its ideas for ending slavery in the United States. This pattern carried on into the 19th century. Abolitionists devoted to the 1776 statement appeared in innumerable depictions of the early 19th century. The message of the abolitionists came through in sermons, petitions, speeches, editorials, and artistic renditions. An ingenious artist created a window shade in which on one the American Eagle is holding the declaration of independence in its talons, and on the others are two slaves praying for the fulfillment of its promises. Time when those opposed to slavery could not turn to the constitution, the declaration of independence was their official source of national guarantee of equality. Abolitionists really the declaration of independence statement of National Rights impose a National Obligation on the emancipation of slaves, and they counter opposed this with a variety of protections on slavery that existed in the constitution, such as the 3 5 clause, the importation clause in the original constitution, as well as the fugitive slave clause. There simply was no comparable protection of slavery in the declaration of independence, so for abolitionists, the legal ons became became the core legal statement. Conductord railroad individualismt of while denouncing the constitution for granting one representative in the cell for every 70,000 slaves. Through this 3 5 clause, politicians entered political office, only, as rankin said, to strengthen the yoke and tighten the chains of cruel oppression. Any effectiveaves representation. The principles of the declaration of independence as a member of the Antislavery Society were trampled in the dust. Also the interaction because of the constitution which required the federal government to suppress any state rebellion. St is interesting, the contrast of these abolitionists view from the proslavery movement, which from its beginnings argue that slavery was a positive good. Skepticism about the documents thatment of natural rights existed released at the time of proslavery the movement charged it was as system of any other theed labor and regarded words as exaggerated statement. The declaration was completely irrelevant, according to them, to slavery. The greatest apologist in this thought, South Carolina senator calhoun, was marked the declaration of independence for said,ng equality of as he the human races. Others in the proslavery movement took a different position. They acknowledged that human truth,y was in fact a but they simply thought it did not apply to blacks. Abolitionism is not the only area of social activism that found the declaration to be so prominent. In therican manifesto first wave of feminism, feminists relied on a more inclusive version of natural rights than that which had been adopted by its author, Thomas Jefferson. The understood that statement of intrinsic human equality applied to women and men. The American Revolution, which was to throw off tyranny and create representative democracy, which could only come about if states repealed all in equal laws about unequal laws about ownership of property, Voting Rights, and womens ability to have elective office. The declarations principles played into the most important Womens Rights Convention in United States history, convened in 1848 in southern new york. A group of men and women adopted the declarations sentiments, which used the declaration of independence as its touchstone, its baseline, and develop a more inclusive version that held that all men and women were created a. Createdtion of equal. The declaration of independence might have become a forgotten document, a statement of sovereignty, of independence, telling the world we were an independent nation and asking for the Financial Support of countries like spain and france, and then lost and dust filled halls in its copies, or perhaps its original to be kept in some more prominent place. Instead, the document became much more. Abolitionists and women suffragists were outsiders who resorted to the document not as a statement of sovereignty, but as a statement of principle. Outside the social advocacy realm in those two areas, the document was also prominent in mainstream politics. In the First Quarter of the 19th century, various politically disempowered groups relied on the manifesto for change. Their causes range from civil and religious rights, free speech, the better prison movement, as well as the Suffrage Movement, without any constitutional resource and many times without even knowing which politician they should talk to. They use public discourse, electioneering, organizing, editorial writing, religious sermonizing in order to argue for cultural and legal change. The declaration of independence statement ofzable rights and government responsibilities. While the original constitution in the bill of rights used technical jargon about illegal searches and seizures, juries, due process of law, and a variety of other things, most people found that the liberation 1776 was more appealing to ordinary people. The Suffrage Movement made one of the most compelling cases for securing the rights proclaimed in the declaration. At the beginning, laborers made too low a wage to be able to vote in states which required some baseline of property in order to participate. One of its members explained the movement was meant to vindicate les of the quality of representation contained in the declaration of independence because it was the poorest and the propertyless who stood most from its principals. In 1830, 5 out of six people in new england who were in jail where they are because of debts they owed. Many of them had a debt of less than 20. A u. S. Senator from kentucky was the leader of this movement. Richard johnson said this was an unfair thing that was also completely inequitable to the poor. Change was wrought by activists who relied on the document and led to widespread populism which brought Andrew Jackson into power as the president. Political adversaries also articulated the argument about the meaning of the declaration of independence when engaging in sectional conflicts about definitionhe legal of slavery to newly acquired territories. In 1830, the conflict began to play itself out in territories acquired through the louisiana purchase. It dealt with the entrance of missouri and if it could come in as a slave state. Quoted from the declaration and a statement on inalienable rights amply, which they understood to set a National Rule that applied to all people to be incompatible with the subordination and deprivation which was intrinsic to slavery. While the argument did not win the day and, of course, missouri entered the union as a slave thee, the grave message influence of the declaration to policy decision was undeniable. The u. S. Acquired in normas territory out west through the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo acquired enormous territory out west. New states like california, arizona, new mexico, and could enter only if the territory remained free. Condemnedoil party the hypocrisy of politicians who asserted their devotion to the principles of human rights and proclaimed them through the declaration of independence, even to back legislation to introduce slavery into the newly acquired states. At the core of this heated ebate was if these new states memberships had to be conditioned on the human rights principles which were encompassed in the declaration of independence. Thegreatest outcry about compromise of 1850 dealt with the fugitive slave clause, which minimalan extremely right of legal due process in court, did not provide for jury trials, and required ordinary citizens to become part of posses who had to gather and forcefully collect these alleged runaways and put them into jail. Before it went into effect, an irate congressman pointed out that the declaration of independence attributed one of the causes of the revolution to deniedt that britain jury trials to the colonists. Here was the fugitive slave act effectively denying jury trials, despite its tremendous effect on individuals liberty and that it was creating a system of domineering that was even worse colonistswhich the had rebelled against. Passage of the fugitive slave act triggered a response that relied heavily on the statements of the declaration of independence. In syracuse, new york, a racially mixed man who was captured and jailed under the fugitive slave act asked abolitionists who were with him, in the name of the declaration of independence and god, why am i bound thus in a free country . To irony was not lost to a member of the new york abolitionist society, who asked crimeically, what was his . A love of liberty which we all declared to be man yes manns inalienable rights mans inalienable right . In the south, Jefferson Davis had a very different perception of the declaration. He thought it was primarily about executive tyranny and about state rights. His followers and supporters believed that bars to the introduction of slavery in the new states was a type of tierney against which the colonies had fought and rejected when they were under british rule. Indeed, when president lincoln took power, davis compared him iii with the view that lincoln was as much of an autocrat and that the secession was comparable to throwing off as had been when the colonists freed themselves from europe. What was missing from the picture was any sense that White Supremacism was against the principles of equality and rights contained in the declaration of independence. The Supreme Court in its effort to resolve the dispute did not help. The now infamous dred scott decision written by Supreme Court chief Justice Robert tani issued a politically charged time of the at the revolution, blacks were not citizens and not part of the compact of the american declaration of independence. The opinion did have supporters, argued heenting judge had falsely stated history. The statement in the declaration of independence was meant to create an assertion of universal truths. The same dissenter went on to say the framers could not have meant to say that god could not have endowed the white race exclusively with inalienable rights contained in the declaration of independence. Opinion was immediately countered by the opposition. A milwaukee newspaper accused him of degrading the declaration into a mere sham. Committee waste convened for the purpose of andessing dred scott ys claimg justice tane is a violation of the sacred principles announced in the declaration of independence. The greatest effect in this white only perception of the declaration of independence was to drastically speed up civil war. Throughout the civil war, the nation was led by president Abraham Lincoln, a politician for whom the declaration of independence had played an incredibly important part throughout the course of his political career. He often asserted his belief that the declaration that all men are created equal is the great fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest and that slavery is a violation of those principles. On the American People to readopt the independence and enable practices in line with its statements. In 1863, during lincolns renowned gettysburg address, he drew the nations attention to the commitment of the declaration of independence, stating, our fathers brought forth to this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal co created equal or created equal. War in 1865he civil idealshopes that some would enter into the constitution in the form of amendments. The declaration of independence influenced that discussion of reform. Butad become an ancient loving manifesto of universal le was, whose princip not only that of sovereignty and not only informed by the past but by the wisdom of later generations. In the eulogy to Abraham Lincoln after John Wilkes Booth failed felled the president , massachusetts senator Charles Sumner was adamant that Racial Injustice must be prevented. He wanted the country to live up to the ideals of the American Revolution. Victory over the confederate states, he said, will have failed unless the original promises of the declaration of independence are fulfilled. He called on the country to fulfill lincolns vision of emancipation by finishing the work the unfinished work of the liberation of independence. Debates on the 13th amendment about the abolition of slavery touched on the declaration as the skeleton for governance. This amendment which changed the constitution was something that created a new vision for the country. The new york tribune argued that the north should prove that by victory, they sought not territorial aggrandizement but rather the establishment of the principles of the declaration of independence. Civil sentiments were voiced during the ratification of the 14th amendment, which was the page in which equal in quality of individual rights was put into the constitution. The equality clause which became landmarkant in decisions in the 20th century, such as the desegregation of schools and equality in matters of education and employment. Secures amendment Voting Rights against racial discrimination. One of the complaints of the colonists against king george wasthird king george iii that he was taxing them without giving them representation. The idea being that if one could not vote, they could not vote for politicians that could move forward the countrys laws to provide the opportunity to pursue happiness and equality. The 15th amendment was meant to give constitutional power to congress to pass laws protecting , as put forthvote down the precepts as put forth in the precepts of the nations founding. Remained much to be done and during the gilded age and the progressive era, the country readily slipped back into old asas about gender and race. Ell as a variety of things nevertheless, as i extensively document in my book, the nations manifesto continued to inspire visionaries in the late 19th and 20th centuries who tried to make the declarations statement a reality securing suffrage for women, the right to bargain collectively for labor unions, for nonwhites to have immigrant status in this country, as for example, asians. In my opinion, today the document is to rarely to rarely invoked as a statement of national pencils. We talk about it during Independence Day celebrations. We talk about it in civics classes and come to the National Archives, but it is rarely discussed by politicians, by as as, by social movements method for seeking understanding of how the declaration might , how itsisionmaking statement about representational government, and eight rights, sovereignty, and International Relations can help set and refined federal, state, and International Politics innate rights. With the november election looming, we should look at that document to help us better understand where we are as a nation, as political public actors and as private citizens, on issues about health care reform, immigration, judicial authority, hate crime legislation, the relations between the federal and state ,overnment, affirmative action and our relations to autocracies like iran and saudi arabia, and a host of other topics that draw us to participate in governance. Theseat of government, local school boards, the public. Quare, or founding, thes declaration declared that we are a people who stand for liberty and equality. Its grand statement not only gives us direction but also illuminates our shortcomings. It offers ideals against which we can measure our accomplishments and failures as a people. Declaration of independence remains as relevant today as it was at the time of the revolution. [applause] thank you. I will take questions if there are any. To the you have to go microphone because we have cspan here. Does your book again into the problem of the lack of representation for the citizens right here in the district of columbia . [applause] our license plates have that slogan taxation without representation, so that is one contemporary example where the ideals are still being invoked. I just wonder if you get into that controversy. i did not. Tsesis i think it is very relevant, and i think there is greater understanding about the need for representation because certainly wherever citizens have to participate in government as far as getting part of their paycheck, they should have representation. That is certainly something that makes sense and something i should cover in a later book. Theid the principles of declaration of independence were invoked at the time of the colonial conquest of the philippines by critics like mark twain of the conquest of the philippines . Absolutely. That happened during the mckinley administration. There was a parade for an. Nstant Independence Day there were many who spoke about it as a subjugation of people because it did not allow people to vote for representatives of their choice. It required there to be a Colonial Government in the philippines from the United States. United thats what i discussed in the book, and it was widely talked about, both in congress as well as in newspapers. Yes . I read of some distain expressed by some comparing graham greene, the prominent of the writer of the 20th century, comparing pursuit of happiness with the other ideals, perhaps an enshrinement something liker that from his perspective. Does your book discuss this to any degree . I think the issues of equality and liberty were significant issues to focus on, but does it the inclusion of the pursuit of happiness . Thetsesis i discussed pursuit of happiness very extensively and about the way social groups interpret it. I think it was a critical component because the other locke,tion was from which was life, liberty, and prospect, in which case we would have had a less common good type of aspect. Was important it not to interpret it in an individualistic kind of way. It, is one way to interpret in what makes me happy, but what about the common good . Group that didme not experience equality, is it possible to say we were pursuing happiness would have of humanity, women, were unable to vote . That is a more inclusive aspect. It was critical. Were were philosophies who philosophers who were writing about that specific phrase. Ethic it was a wellthoughtout component of the declaration. I think it was a wellthoughtout component of declaration. Most of us are used to thinking of the declaration of independence being on display here at the National Archives. Im interested in learning about its care, its exhibition, i guess, if you will, in the early years. How was it cared for as opposed to what most of us think of it as today . Mr. Tsesis the National Archives has the best description anywhere around on its website about the history of the care of the declaration. It was carried around in a sealed container. Theas up on a smoky wall at state department. There was time in the library of congress. There was time where it was displayed over a fireplace with smoke coming out where you could smoke. One of the things i touched upon briefly is what happened to the declaration, why it is so faded. During the monroe administration, as i mentioned, anebody commissioned identical copy. The person who was going to make the identical copy claimed this was going to make no damage. Leafas going to make a wet indiasomething paper. Then you can get an identical copy. The problem is it took off a large percentage of the ink, and it was in the sunlight, for quite a while. It was only in the mid 20th century that there was the decision made that it needs to areapt not only in a safe from the elements but also protected along with the constitution. I enjoyed your talk. I have a question you discuss in your lecture about the progressive use of the. Eclaration of independence it leads me to ask from the other end, was it or is it possible to argue that the declaration of independence also contributed to the reactionary andof the Supreme Court politics by talking about liberty of contract, which is not in the constitution, is against labor unions, is against . Ages natural law in the way Clarence Thomas talks about it, that it overrides constitutional guarantees . Flipside to your provocative thesis. Mr. Tsesis i think there is. There was certainly talk about it in regards to liberty of contract in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Roosevelt, with the Franklin Roosevelt administration where people begin to say that roosevelt is a tyrant like george iii because he is putting on all these regulations, but i think theres room for thought both on the conservative and liberal side. I think the declaration of independence is meant to give Common Ground to us as a people and meant for us to dispute each other, what it is pursuit of happiness and life and liberty means and to have a system of Representative Government so we can vote in and vote out politicians that will not keep along thoughts and move the developing thought of us as a people. So as we bicker and differ in our political thoughts, we have a Common Ground, and that is one of liberty and equality, and it is for us as a people, through our representatives, to define. I think the Supreme Court has to be very careful because governance remains with the people, and while there is a judicial view of the Supreme Court that recently recognized it was also in the declaration of independence, that the document in the Supreme Court is almost never invoked. I think it is important to define what these grand concepts mean in immigration, in regulations of health care, social security, and the like. I think my question may be pretty much the same but a bit more general. Is there a use of the declaration of independence in fleshing out the meaning of the constitution when theres this debate on originalist meaning of the constitution . Theres certainly people who have spoken about original is him original is within theinalism context of the declaration. I think there really needs to be more. The original school of thought the idea constitution, being that there was some original meaning of the constitution and the way to judges from being so liberalist that they apply to the literal constitution, but reallychools of thought diverge. It is really class of thought. There is an original school of you cannott says really identify with the intent was and whose intent we should go with. Theres a school of thought that speaks about we should look at the way the language of the constitution was used at the time of its ratification, and now, theres a more living constitutionalism which speaks content, themantic meaning of the words but also about principles guiding the way. He also speaks about the declaration in two of his most recent books. There has been talk about it. I think there should be more. Generally, the way that activists of the 19th century was so effective in using the document, talking about how it was the framers understood pursuit of happiness could not have included slavery, but when we look at those times, unfortunately, many, including jefferson, who spoke about the pursuit of happiness, and alienable rights of man, held unalienable rights of man, held slaves. Its a critical document for being stable in the principles we have, for not being willynilly in the way this country moves to and fro depending on popular majority, where the popular majority might be racist, and that we might have a tyranny of that majority, so the document is critical in setting baseline standards, but that we need to continue to reinterpret those ideas to be true to the original but also to be sensitive to our of where those who contributed fell short. When you look at the debate today, i think if you did a word of, lets say, democratic candidates,ratic the word equality comes up a lot, but if you did a word count of republican candidates and republican debates and speeches, liberty comes up a lot. It seems to be republicans are all talking about liberty and democrats are all talking about equality. I dont even know if those terms mean what they meant for jefferson. They may not. I was wondering if you could comment on that. Theres a certainly, more libertarian strain of the Republican Party than there was in the early 1980s and the 1970s, and theres a lot of equality talk amongst the democrats because it tends to try to get a wider swath of the population for voting. First of all, they are not mutually exclusive. I like to use the term liberal equality. If one has liberty at the expense of others equality, one has failed to meet the standards of the declaration of independence. Equalitye has while exploiting others, one has not lived up to the concept of liberal equality. I think these things are both necessary, and its really one in its exercises there for a common good. Also, if i may add a little bit more, i think what has happened with the declaration of trueendence has been throughout the countrys history. It is primarily used for rhetorical flourish. If you really did a word count and ive read thousands of documents. I have looked at and think every newspaper from 1776 to around 1968 and some to the present that use the declaration of independence. The wonders of Electronic Research as well as the classic library research, but, boy, you can really harness it to look at a tremendous amount of documents. Im saying this document really has substantive meaning. It really has meaning that is constitutional, that tells us about the sort of laws we should pass, how we should exercise our ability to get representatives into congress, to participate in governance, and it is a substantive meaning that is to rarelyinvoked too invoked in light of our history and in light of present politics. Thank you. [applause] thank you for coming. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] bookshelf features the countrys bestknown American History writers of the past decade talking about their books. You can watch our weekly series every saturday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern here on American History tv on cspan3. This is American History tv on cspan3 where each weekend, we feature 48 hours of programs exploring our nations past. Every saturday night, American History tv takes you to College Classrooms around the country for lectures in history. Why do you know who Lizzie Borden is . Raise your hand if you have ever heard of the jean harris murder trial before this class . The deepest because where we will find the true meaning of the revolution was in this transformation that took place in the minds of the American People. And so we are going to talk about both of these sides of the story here, right . The tools, the techniques of slaveowner power. We will also talk about the tools and techniques of power that were practiced by enslaved people. What history professors lead discussions with students on topics ranging from American Revolution to september 11. Lectures in history on cspan3 every saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv. And its available as a podcast. Find it where you listen to podcasts. Next, an oral history interview with gloria grinnell, who talked about taking part in the 1960 lunch counter sit in protest during her time as a student at richmonds Virginia Union university. She talked about the Culture Shock she experienced as a californian attending school in virginia. Civil rightsof a history project initiated by congress in 2009, conducted by this missoni and museum of africanAmerican History and culture, the american full life , andr Folk Life Center the university of North Carolina chapel hill. i will go back to my grandparents, if i may, because in a way, it was a civil rightstype activity. My grandfather these are stories that were told to me, and i asked my cousin about it because he is older than i, and he says it is true. My grandfather had 500 invested in the stock market, and of course, he lost it. This is when people were jumping out the window and so forth. My grandparents were teachers. I think he taught languages and music, and i dont know what my grandmother