Brittle Parchment of Liberty

Posted on | July 5, 2010 | No Comments

If you are going to sever ties to your Commonwealth through bloody struggle, it is considered polite to write down why. Nobody wants to get three years into a revolution only to realize the whole thing was a Three’s Company-esque misunderstanding. The Declaration of Independence was the laundry list of grievances stating America’s case for freedom. It’s accusations against the King ranged from the egregious (“He has plundered our seas, burnt our towns and ravaged the lives of our people”) to the trifling (“Sometimes when he sees us at a party he acts like he doesn’t know us”). But proud men would not take up arms against the Crown solely because the King had “erected a multitude of new offices.” The authors of the Declaration knew they would also have to appeal to man’s higher nature, to stir men’s souls. They needed something with some zazz. Enter Thomas Jefferson.

Jefferson’s task would be to synthesize the unique brand message of America down to something that would captivate the hard to reach 12-28 ragtag militia demographic, all the while not offending traditional “Butterchurn Moms.” In a scant 35 words, Jefferson had given the nation the kind of positive brand identity that rendered moot the issue of whether or not we had to live up to its ideals. Still, knowing the inherent contradiction between their noble words and the reality of a slave-owning nation, Jefferson and the Founders wisely decided to strike from the Declaration of Independence the phrase “or your money back.”

(America: The Book by Jon Stewart and The Daily Show writers, pgs. 24-27)

Happy 4th of July weekend! It’s a federal holiday today, so Ordinary Mer is taking the day off.

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