I would imagine you wouldn't be surprised to learn they are saying we need to institute more tyranny.
This far and no further:
One of the most famous phrases in American history may have had its meaning changed by a wayward drop of ink. According to the scholar Danielle Allen, the National Archive’s copy of the Declaration of Independence has an error—a period right after the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
That period, she says, has caused a “routine but serious misunderstanding” throughout history, thinking that the sentence ends there. In fact, it continues with “instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The difference, she argues, is that “The logic of the sentence moves from the value of individual rights to the importance of government as a tool for protecting those rights. You lose that connection when the period gets added.”
The errant period apparently does not exist on other copies, including Thomas Jefferson’s rough draft.
As a result of Allen’s work, the National Archives are considering changes to its online presentation of the Declaration.
3 comments:
This is the independent clause that precedes all the dependent clauses beginning with "that":
We hold these truths to be self-evident.
If I read the Declaration of Independence correctly, that contested portion would read as follows when connected to the independent clause:
We hold these truths to be self-evident...That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...
And what are the revisionists going to do about the following portion?
-That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it
Never argue with a teacher....they're always right. :)
Post a Comment