Texting the Nation closely parses the Declaration of Independence’s text and logical argument in grammatical and rhetorical terms to highlight patterns of agency, from the passive voice construction and rearranged parallel arrangement of political principles to the composition history and meaning of the deleted slavery paragraph from the grievances, and then to the heavy Congressional editing of the conclusion, to both add God-language and restore the Lee Resolution for Independence. The book highlights the Virginia background of the Declaration (the Virginia Declaration of Rights, Jefferson’s draft for the Virginia Constitution, and the Lee Resolution), including the Virginia antislavery myth and non-importation movement. Additionally, Texting the Nation includes Declaration criticism, including Timothy Pickering and Jacques Derrida.
By:
Michael Ditmore
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Weight: 590g
ISBN: 9781032892849
ISBN 10: 1032892846
Series: Routledge Research in American Literature and Culture
Pages: 222
Publication Date: 12 November 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Preface List of Acronyms Introduction: The Declaration of Independence and Criticism Finding ""the"" Declaration of Independence: Notes on the Text(s) 1. Agent(s)/Agency, Slavery and Slavery in Eighteenth-Century British North America as Rhetoric (and Some Reality) 2. The Major Premise: Ambiguating The Human Condition, Government, and Divine Passivity 3. The Minor Premise: The Omnipotent Potentate, the Grievances, and Slavery (and the Virginia Constitution, 1776-1903) 4. Authorizing and Accomplishing Independence: Jefferson's Double-Columned Conclusion, the Return (or Not) of God, and the Multiplying/Dividing Declaration Conclusion: There’s Something About the Declaration of Independence (But What Is It?) Index
Michael Ditmore is Professor of English specializing in early American literature and Great Books at Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, where he has also served as Director of American Studies and Dean of the Humanities/Teacher Education Division. He has previously published on William Bradford, John Winthrop, Anne Hutchinson, Anne Bradstreet, Elizabeth Ashbridge, Jonathan Edwards, Crèvecoeur, and Benjamin Franklin.
