WHAT WE HOLD

The writing and meaning of the Declaration of Independence.

- BY JILL LEPORE

Red-headed, spindle-shanked Thomas Jefferson was thirty-three years old when he drafted the Declaration of Independence, in 1776; he was so young and, as it turned out, so long-lived that he had another fifty years to think about what it meant. Over that half century, during which he served as a foreign minister, state legislator, governor of Virginia, member of Congress, Secretary of State, Vice-President, and President (twice), he was often asked why he held it to be so true as to be self-evident that all men are created equal and that governments are instituted among men to secure rights that include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Happiness! On these questions, he had a great deal to say. This year marks two centuries since Jefferson's death and two hundred and fifty years since the United States declared its independence by issuing arguably the most important piece of prose in modern history. Jefferson thought that it began the world anew. What does it mean now that it's old?