Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence: A Document, Timely & Timeless

Holowchak’s "Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence: A Document, Timely & Timeless" adds to ever-growing publications of books on Jefferson. He continues his assault on revisionist, debunking accounts of Jefferson in favor of a laudatory approach is written in an immersive, 18-19th century prose that cripples readers’ acceptance of 21st century standards of contemporary historians to judge Jefferson. The prose stresses into think like Jefferson. Holowchak sticks to his methodology of extensive citations of source materials, that he turns into a basis for philosophical analyses and crafty, sometimes petulant, lawyering that draws firm, against-the-prevailing-current orthodoxy about the Declaration of Independence and Jefferson the man. So, readers will encounter a stream of original sources that scold recent debunking historians about the Declaration’s origins and Jefferson in favor of Holowchak’s traditional, heroic assessment of him. So, buy the book, read it, debate it, learn from it, and compare it to the methods of historians like Lewis Namier or Maya Jasanoff, whose work on the 18th century and other periods relies on traditional methods.

Dr. Michael Lavin

Department of Army

Army Review Board Agency