Scott Gurvey's Public Offerings

The date will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

John Adams, Letter to his Wife Abigail, July 3, 1776.

That guy could sure write, couldn’t he? John Adams was prescient. He accurately described the way we celebrate Independence Day. He did get the date wrong. He was certain July 2nd would be the date we celebrate. That was the day the Continental Congress passed Virginia’s resolution on independence. July 4th, the day we do celebrate, was the day Congress approved the text of the Declaration of Independence. The document, primarily written by Thomas Jefferson, spelled out the reasons for the thirteen colonies’ separation from England.

I did a little sleuthing and am certain Trump is not displaying the original for the simple reason that his Declaration appears to be legible. The original Declaration, engrossed by Timothy Matlack, a clerk in the Pennsylvania State House on July 19, 1776, and later signed by members of the Continental Congress, was poorly cared for in its early years and can barely be read. It is on display in the rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., the now faint script on parchment protected from light and air. It is viewed by more than a million people per year and is thrilling to see. I highly recommend the visit.

The Declaration Trump displays appears in the photo to be legible. It is also protected by a curtain, indicating it is still of considerable value. This leads many experts to believe it is one of the Stone Engravings. In 1820, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned William J. Stone, a Washington engraver, to produce an official facsimile on copperplate of the Declaration text and signatures for the United States government.

The Stone Declaration of Independence captured much of the original document’s artistry before it deteriorated to its present condition. Before photography, documents like the Declaration of Independence could be reproduced in only a few ways: by hand tracing, using a mechanical device like a pantograph, or wetting an original document and lifting a small amount of ink from it. Nothing is known about the process used by Stone. Many experts think the “wet” method was used, accelerating the deterioration of the original.

Trump does not make this distinction, referring to the document only as “the Declaration”. But this bit of braggadocio does not concern me. What concerns me is Trump’s lack of understanding about this landmark piece of America history.

Asked by an ABC News reporter, “What does the Declaration mean to you?”, Trump replied:

“Well it means exactly what it says, it’s a declaration, it’s a declaration of unity and love and respect and it means a lot and it’s something very special to our country.”

Donald Trump

The video, once posted on the White House web site and by ABC News has apparently been taken down by both sites. I found a copy on YouTube and uploaded it here:

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I’ll do both. To graduate from O’Keeffe Elementary School on the South Side of Chicago I had to pass a test on the Declaration of Independence, and the constitutions of the United States and the state of Illinois. Trump would have failed.

The Declaration of Independence is most certainly NOT a declaration of “unity,” or “love,” or “respect.” It is a declaration of disunity. It is a public pronouncement of a divorce, the thirteen colonies breaking their bonds to England. One might think the thrice married Trump would at least understand that. It would seem Trump has absolutely no clue what the Declaration of Independence is or what it says. I doubt he has read it. Or the Constitution.

Trump is not alone in displaying ignorance of our nation’s founding document. MAGA cheerleader Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, mocked House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a post on social media, writing, “Did Hakeem Jeffries just say the Declation of Independent reads like an INDICTMENT? Did I hear that right?” The community on X/Twitter quickly put her in her place.

As always I urge you to read the Declaration for yourself. It begins with the famous preamble, setting the philospoical foundation for the colonies’ action, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” The preamble sets the moral and political framework: natural rights, popular sovereignty, and the right to revolt.

From there it goes on to list 27 grienvences, each one a specific accusation against King George III, forming the core argument for dissolving political ties with Britain. It reads just like the charge sheet of a criminal idictment. I will not list all 27, but considering the current actions of the Trump administration and his supporters in Congress and the Supreme Court, several resonate particulary well.

Abuse of Legislative Authority

• “He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.”

Obstruction of Self-Government

• “He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners…”
• “He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone…”
• “He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws…”
• “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”

Military Oppression

• “He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.”
• “He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.”

Economic Control and Exploitation

• “For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.”

Legal and Judicial Manipulation

• “For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.”

Incitement of Violence and Division

• “He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny…”
• “He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us….”

If only we could get Trump to read what he so proudly displays. Neither Trump nor Mace could earn a grade school diploma in Illinois.

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