The greatest sentence ever written / Walter Isaacson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Isaacson, Walter, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Politics and government.

United States.

United States. Declaration of Independence--Criticism, Textual.

Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States.

Rhetoric.

Equality--United States.

Equality.

Genre:

Endpapers

Informational works.

Physical Description:

67 pages : illustrations ; 19 cm

Edition:

First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Simon & Schuster, 2025.

Summary:

"To celebrate America's 250th anniversary, Walter Isaacson takes readers on a ... deep dive into the creation of one of history's most powerful sentences: '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.' Drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, this line lays the foundation for the American Dream and defines the common ground we share as a nation. Isaacson unpacks its genius, word by word, illuminating the then-radical concepts behind it"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1776

We

Self-evident truths

All men

Created equal

Endowed by their creator

Certain unalienable rights

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

Common ground

The American dream

Going forward

Appendices: The drafting process ; From John Locke's Second Treatise of Government, 1690 ; From Rousseau's The Social Contract, 1762 ; From the Virginia Declaration of Rights, June 1776 ; Jefferson's "Original rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence, June 1776 ; The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Shober Family Fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9781982181314

1982181311

OCLC:

1526851469