My new book: "Proclaiming Liberty"

I’m delighted to announce that my new book, Proclaiming Liberty: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence, is on its way at last! The printers are busy spitting out copies and Amazon will start shipping May 5. You might, however, be able to snag some copies early at some of the events I’ll be appearing at in the coming weeks. (More on that below.) It’s exciting—and a bit of a relief—to be able to share this book with you; it’s been hectic getting it done, but also very educational. I always learn a ton writing books, and this time it may have been two tons.

You might describe Proclaiming Liberty as a biography of the Declaration. It looks at the document’s philosophical and legal origins and breaks it down clause-by-clause to explain what each specific grievance in the document refers to. It explores the tensions between Britain and America dating back to the very first settlements; the ideas of John Locke and Algernon Sidney; the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution—and, of course, the disputes over the Stamp Act and the tea tax. And it tells all of this through the lives of Adams and Jefferson, two very different men who came together in the summer of 1776 to articulate the ideas of freedom as never before or since.

I’m particularly proud of some of the new ground this book breaks. For example, I don’t think any previous scholar has asked what the phrase “of right ought to be” means, or how the ancient Roman writer Tacitus influenced Jefferson’s wording, or how a long dispute in South Carolina over the location of its legislature made its way into the Declaration. Few have discussed how New England’s rebellion against the dictator Edmond Andros set the foundation for the Revolution a century later, or explored how the White Pines Acts—which prohibited cutting down pine trees in America—helped nurse resentment against Great Britain. I also correct a number of previous scholars who have, for example, denied that the Americans were “cast out of the king’s protection” (they were), or who have claimed that Americans were fighting for “the traditional rights of Englishmen” (they definitely were not).

I’m grateful to the Cato Institute for taking on this project, and we will be kicking things off with an in-person presentation at Cato on May 1, where Roger Pilon and Prof. Robert McDonald will join me to discuss the book. (Yes, livestreamed). Please come in person or watch online by registering here. This event will be particularly special, since the book is dedicated to Roger, in thanks for all the many things he has taught me over the 25 years I’ve known him, about the Declaration and so much more.

The book is also dedicated to the late Harry Jaffa, who was also a profound influence on how I think about the Declaration and its relation to our constitutional order.

Then, on May 7 in Phoenix, we’ll have our home-town kick-off event at the Goldwater Institute. Please join us!

If you’re in the Miami area, though, you’ll get a bit of an early preview of the book on April 17, when I’ll be speaking about the book at the National Review Institute’s event at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove. And I’ll be speaking about the book at the Sacramento Federalist Society on April 8, the University of Wyoming Federalist Society on April 13, and at the Cato University event in Phoenix on April 18. There’ll be other events later in the summer, but I’ll post more about them when we get closer to those dates.

Hope to see you soon!