The Declaration of Independence has been so widely read that few stop to reflect on the meaning of its claims. This session addressed the moral and political ideas of the Declaration, where those ideas came from, and what their influence has been on American history. What does it mean to say that humans are equal and what are unalienable rights? How should we interpret these claims since so many of its signers so flagrantly violated them? For example, Abraham Lincoln described the Declaration as “as an apple of gold in a frame of silver”—the Constitution. Is that reverence warranted or should the moral failures of its signers undermine our confidence in its claims?

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The Logic of Liberty

Professional Development Series

This series explored the philosophies and ideas that influenced America’s founding fathers. The Logic of Liberty Professional Development Series is free and open to social studies educators in Colorado and beyond. About the series. About the series.