One of our own has written a book about the document that gave birth to America. Dr. Matthew Spalding—vice president of Washington Operations and dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale’s Washington, D.C. Campus—has published The Making of the American Mind: The Story of our Declaration of Independence.
The book takes seriously Jefferson’s description of the Declaration as “an expression of the American mind.” The Declaration does not merely announce a break with Great Britain. It states the central idea of our country: that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights. Properly understood, that idea explains why America is worthy of both gratitude and defense.
Many young Americans today are taught to see their country chiefly as a record of sins. They are rarely invited to consider how rare it is for a people to found a nation on the “laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” and to pledge “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor” to make that principle live in them. Dr. Spalding’s book tells that story and, at the same time, comments carefully on the text itself—its argument, its grievances, and its concluding pledge.
Abraham Lincoln observed that every people has a “central idea” from which its public opinion radiates. For Americans, that central idea is the Declaration of Independence. When it is taught clearly, it produces a patriotism that is both thoughtful and ardent—a love of country that knows why the country is good and how to correct its faults without destroying its foundations. Our country badly needs such patriotism.
From its founding, Hillsdale College has understood itself to be a guardian of civil and religious freedom. Our work in Washington, especially through the Van Andel Graduate School of Government, extends that mission. There our students study the very principles explained in this book and seek to carry them into the work of statesmanship.
The publication of The Making of the American Mind is therefore not merely a book release. It is part of a long effort to teach Americans again what their country is and why it deserves their loyalty. I commend the book to you in that spirit.
Best regards,
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Larry P. Arnn
President of Hillsdale College
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