The Living Declaration

Dr. Steven Skultety, professor of philosophy and director of the Declaration of Independence Center at the University of Mississippi, explains why the Declaration of Independence remains vitally important 250 years after its creation. Responding to a fifth grader's question, he reveals three fundamental principles that continue to shape American identity and governance in ways that affect citizens of all ages.

• The Declaration establishes Americans as "one people" with shared beliefs, emotions, and a common sense of justice
• Being created equal means no American deserves unaccountable control over others, limiting acceptable forms of government
• Unlike historic descriptions, the Declaration actively makes history through deliberate human action
• These founding principles shape American life whether citizens actively engage with them or not
• As Dr. Skultety memorably puts it: "You may not be interested in the Declaration of Independence, but the Declaration of Independence is interested in you."

Check Out the Civic Literacy Curriculum!

School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership

Center for American Civics

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name is Max.
I'm a fifth grader from Arizona.
My question is why is theDeclaration of Independence
still important today?
Thank you, maxwell, for thatquestion.
Today I'm excited to introducea new scholar.
We have Dr Stephen Skoltetti,who is a professor of philosophy
, the chair of the Philosophyand Religion Department and the

(00:22):
director of the Declaration ofIndependence Center for the
Study of American Freedom at theUniversity of Mississippi.
Stephen, thank you so much forbeing here.
So the question is why is theDeclaration still important
today?
What can you tell us?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, Liz, as I've thought about this fantastic
question, I guess I come backagain and again to three sort of
three big things.
I guess I come back again andagain to three sort of three big
things.
And so here's the first what itmeans to be an American isn't
just infinitely plastic.
It can't be anything toeveryone at all times.

(01:00):
It really does mean somethingrather than nothing, and I think
you can see that in thedocument right when you start
out.
How there's this announcementthat when, in the course of
human events, it becomesnecessary for one people to
dissolve the political bandswhich have connected them with
one another, Notice therethere's this idea that Americans

(01:22):
are a people and that there areother people out there in the
world, but we're one in someimportant way.
And you know you can see thatin other ways in the document as
well.
So, for example, famously youknow we hold these truths to be
self-evident.
I mean that we is picking out away the American people are

(01:43):
going to believe things right.
And even in the middle of theDeclaration, you know, when
you're listing all of thesegrievances against the King of
England, notice there's anassumption there that when
Americans read these grievancesthey're going to get angry,
they're going to be indignant.
So there's also an assumptionthat we share a lot of the same

(02:06):
emotions.
We share a kind of apsychological repertoire that'll
make us respond in a certainway that other people may not.
And then, you know, thedocument obviously ends, too,
with an announcement that we asa people are going to be doing
something together, so itpresupposes that we're acting
together as a people.

(02:26):
So I mean, I think that's thefirst big thing as Americans,
we're one people with sharedbeliefs, shared emotions, a
shared sense of justice, andthen ready to act together as
well.
And I think the second big thingthat I think about when I think
about the importance of theDeclaration of Independence is I
think the key idea that'scommunicated, that I think

(02:50):
continues to resonate with allAmericans, no matter kind of
where they are on any givenpolitical spectrum, is that we
as Americans think of each otheras having been created equal.
We as Americans think of eachother as having been created
equal, and by thinking ofourselves as being created equal

(03:30):
, what we mean is that, look,people might be better or worse
at this or that, or muchsuperior to anyone else, that
they deserve to haveunaccountable, complete and
total control over any othergroup of Americans.
We're going to ensure that, nomatter what kind of government
we set up, there's this key ideathat no one is just different
in kind from anyone else.
That would justify some kind ofabsolute, absolute government.

(03:53):
And then, finally, the finalthing I'll just mention.
It may seem so obvious thatit's not even worth talking
about it, but when I hear otherpeople talk about the
Declaration they don't mentionthis.
And here's the idea this is adeclaration, not a description,
and what I mean by that is thisI think a lot of people, when

(04:16):
they look at the sweep ofhistory, they're tempted to
think that history is kind ofunfolding in some sort of
unalterable process.
Or all things inevitably eventhere might be hiccups here and
there all things inevitably arekind of going toward one sort of
goal.
They're all things inevitablyare kind of going toward one
sort of goal.

(04:36):
And those of us who step backand think about this, you know
we can.
Our best, our best efforts arereally just to offer a great
description of the way thingsare unfolding in a sort of
inevitable process.
And it's just so interesting tome and kind of exciting to me
that the Declaration ofIndependence is saying you know

(04:58):
what?
We control history.
We are ready to do somethingthat's going to make history.
We're not just here to describeit.
We're not here to describe aprocess, we're here to act.

(05:19):
And so it's somewhat funny to methat some people turn to the
Declaration and actually cite itas part of some inevitable
process, Whereas when I look atit, I mean, I see a group of
feisty people who are saying youknow what?
Nothing is inevitable.
It's time for a fight and it'stime to make a difference in
history through action.
So I think those are the threebig things.
I would say is that theDeclaration of Independence
teaches us that being anAmerican isn't just anything,

(05:41):
it's something of one people.
It's built on this profound andinteresting idea that we're all
created equal and that thatmeans that we're only going to
accept some forms of government.
And then, finally, this is adeclaration that we're going to
make history, rather than just adescription of the way history
unfolds.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
So what would you say to a student who you know is
studying this?
So the student who asked thequestion is a fifth grader, or
maybe a seventh grader or highschooler.
That says how, like, who cares?
This was written 250 years ago.
What does it have to do with me?

Speaker 2 (06:21):
Well, I think all of those lessons or principles or
insights that I just attemptedto offer they're directly
bearing on students of all ages.
I mean, it's easy to just liveyour life in accordance with
certain assumptions that willsort of make you think more or

(06:43):
less about different kinds ofthings.
And so I would just tell yourfifth grader or your seventh
grader that the ideas capturedhere in the Declaration of
Independence are going to shapethe course of their life,
whether they like it or not.
I mean to be a little cheekyabout it.
You know, you may not beinterested in the Declaration of

(07:05):
Independence, but theDeclaration of Independence is
interested in you Because beinghere in America means there's
some just basic premises aboutthe way we're going to behave
and that you can expect peopleto act and react.
And if you want to understandthat terrain that you're living

(07:25):
your life in, you need to stopand think about this incredible
and very profound document.
Now, of course that doesn'tmean there's not going to be
debates and scholarlydifferences and ideas about, hey
, if the Declaration is this,what's going to follow from that
?
And we can get into all sortsof fascinating discussions and

(07:46):
debates about it.
But there are these corestarting points built into this
document that really do affectour lives, no matter how old you
are that really do affect ourlives, no matter how old you are
.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Thank you so much.
I feel like as a former teacher, that's, you know.
I think students always thinkwell, these documents are more
for adults.
Or once you can vote, and youknow we're really trying to
shine a light, like you just didon.
No, this is actually everybody,so it doesn't really matter how
old you are and I I that quote,quote you may not care about
the Declaration, but theDeclaration cares about you is
just so wonderful.
Dr Skoltetti, thank you so muchfor your expertise.

(08:25):
We really appreciate having youon.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
It was my pleasure, Liz.
Thanks for the invitation.