★★★★☆ | History | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
I read this gem on the eve of the 250th birthday of the United States. It’s far and away the shortest book by Walter Isaacson that I’ve ever read. It’s just 80 pages, which include the full text of the Declaration of Independence and related historical writings from Rousseau, Locke and others. Here, Isaacson parses every word of this famous sentence:
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.
In short, vivid chapters, he explores the Founding Fathers’ debate and intentions for the formation of this country. In a time when our country is so politically divided, Isaacson encourages all of us to look for ways to find common ground in our positions. There’s a lot to think about here.
If podcasts are your thing, you might consider listening to this Old School episode where Shilo Brooks interviews Isaacson about the book. I found the episode perhaps even more enlightening than the book itself.
Highlights
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” Martin Luther King Jr.
In Jefferson’s formulation, “the pursuit of happiness” is just a simpler way to say all of that. It is your right—and your opportunity—to seek fulfillment, meaning, and well-being however you personally see fit.
Locke in his Second Treatise declared that humans can create private property by combining their labor with things they take from nature. But he included a famous limitation, known as the Lockean Proviso: only “where there is enough, and as good, left in common for others.”