LF: Have we misunderstood the Declaration of Independence? Princeton professor claims rogue period in official transcript DOESN'T appear on original - and massively changes our understanding of government's role

Title: Have we misunderstood the Declaration of Independence? Princeton professor claims rogue period in official transcript DOESN'T appear on original - and massively changes our understanding of government's role
Source: Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... rstanding-role-government.html
Published: Jul 5, 2016
Author: James Wilkinson For Dailymail.com
Post Date: 2016-07-05 08:29:18 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 552
Comments: 4

'The logic of the sentence moves from the value of individual rights to the importance of government as a tool for protecting those rights,' she told The New York Times. 'You lose that connection when the period gets added.'

If that's the case, then Thomas Jefferson's intentions for America may have been a lot less libertarian than many assume.

It's a question that has puzzled Jack Rakove, a historian at Stanford and a member of the National Archives’ Founding Fathers Advisory Committee.

'Are the parts about the importance of government part of one cumulative argument, or - as Americans have tended to read the document - subordinate to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?"' he asked.

'You could make the argument without the punctuation, but clarifying it would help.'

Mystery: The original draft of the Declaration written by Thomas Jefferson (pictured) doesn't have the period. Neither do many copies of the document made under Congressional oversight in 1776

Historian: Allen (pictured) looked at more than 70 versions of the Declaration during her studies

The version of the Declaration that most are familiar with comes from the 1823 copperplate created over three years by engraver William Stone. He based it on the original 1776 document - and included a period after 'Happiness.'

This version, believed by many to be the most precise copy of the document, is the basis for most modern reprints - including the one featured in The New York Times each Independence Day.

But other copies, created in 1776 with Congressional oversight, do not feature the period.

Neither does the version ordered from a printer in Philadelphia on July 4 that year, nor Jefferson's 'rough draft' in the Library of Congress, or the version copied into Congress's records - its 'corrected journal' - in mid-July 1776.

And the original document, which is kept in the Library of Congress, is so faded that it's hard to make out whether there ought to be a period there - there is a mark, but some argue it's indistinguishable from commas elsewhere in the document.

One of those poeple is Heather Wolfe, curator of manuscripts at the Folger Shakespeare Library, who says that with other periods 'you can tell the quill was held down and more ink came out.

Allen, who analyzed more than 70 versions of the Declaration of Independence made from 1776-1823, also argues that the document was already badly faded when Stone got to work on his engraving in 1823.

That resulted, she says, in him examining other versions of the document that has mistakenly placed the period there, leading to an 'honest mistake'.

Slip of the pen: Other historians agree with Allen, and note that the period after 'Happiness' in some versions is noticeably smaller than others - leading them to believe it was more likely intended to be a comma

And to be fair to both Stone and those who prefer the more traditional reading of the document, there are early versions of the Declaration, both official and unofficial, that include the period.

They include versions made at another Philadelphia printing shop in 1777 that were sent out to the various states.

But several historians agree that Allen's observation is compelling - so much so that William A. Mayer, executive for research services at the National Archive, has made looking for a way to safely re-examine the document a 'top priority'.

Possibilities include using hyperspectral imaging - which detects light and colors invisible to the naked eye - to look at the document without removing it from the argon gas that keeps it from deteriorating further.

And Allen believes the time is right to find out exactly what Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers intended.

'We are having a national conversation about the value of government, and it does get connected to our founding documents,' she said. 'We should get right what’s in them.'

Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality, published by Liveright, is avaialble to buy now.

Re-examination: The National Archives, which houses the original Declaration in argon gas to avoid further decay is now looking for ways to re-examine the document in light of Allen's claims

Life, Liberty and Private Property is what he had in mind. "The pursuit of happineff is a compromise phrafe af far af I know.