Tutors Ferrier and Seeley Publish New Internet Study Book
on Declaration of Independence
(November 2, 2000)
Those who have heard former presidential candidate Alan Keyes
know that the most important document undergirding the founding
of the American government is the Declaration of Independence.
From stump to stump, in speech to speech, Keyes stressed that
we can't understand American government if we don't understand
the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence.
So committed is Keyes to educating the public about the importance
of the document that he has set up a non-profit educational
foundation, The
Declaration Foundation, to assist him in this educational
endeavor. Moreover, he turned to one of his trusted campaign
advisors for help in producing a comprehensive text that aims
to give written life to the many speeches he has given on
the principles of the Declaration.
That advisor, Dr. Richard Ferrier, happens to be a Thomas
Aquinas College tutor and part-time civic activist. Ferrier,
in turn, enlisted the support of his faculty colleague, Dr.
Andrew Seeley, and the two of them have just completed their
work, America's Declaration Principles in Thought and Action,
a 158-page textbook aimed at expounding upon the principles
of the Declaration.
To be sure, plenty of books have been published on the Declaration
before. According to Ferrier, however, this book is unique.
"No one has written a book for the ordinary citizen or high
school student that gives a deep and thoughtful account of
the meaning and truth of the Declaration and its relation
to the American civic order."
Most books, he says, tend to be history books or civics books
that fail to analyze the principles of the law. "Or, alternatively,
they are suffused with skepticism and irony about the intentions
and decency of the Founders due to their practical compromise
with slavery or their accommodations to the customary status
of women."
This book has neither flaw. "It's almost like a book about
the spirit of the laws. It's about what the Declaration is
and how its spirit is animated and played out in the course
of American history. Of course, it covers the events leading
to the Revolution, the Missouri Compromise, Reconstruction,
the Civil Rights movement – but it's about more than
that."
"It asks us to acknowledge our dependence on God, to acknowledge
our dignity, to proclaim our rights. It makes us reflect on
the sense all of us have that every individual is one's equal
and one's brother or sister under the fatherhood of God. And
what you come to see, we hope, is that the God-given dignity
the Declaration presupposes is present in every human being
so that the teaching task is to find the best forms it's been
given, the best expressions it's been given, and the most
interesting questions that have been raised about it."
"The book is written for an intelligent high school student,"
says Seeley. "In the short term, we see this being used by
homeschool students, independent high schools, and adult church
group or civics discussion groups. In the long-term, we'd
like to turn this into a book for general public consumption."
The text is currently available on-line (for $15 to download)
or as a spiral bound, text-only version (for $30). But the
Foundation hopes eventually to publish it in standard textbook
format, with pictures and graphic design, for use in a standard
public high school curriculum. "Obviously, we're ambitious,"
says Seeley. "We'd like to get this into as many hands of
Americans as possible."
Both Ferrier and Seeley were bolstered by the favorable review
they received from their advisory board members. The renowned
historian, Dr. Paul Rahe, who is Jay P. Walker Professor of
American History at the University of Tulsa, has been enthusiastic
about the text, as has been Jeffrey Wallin, the director of
the American Academy for Liberal Education, and Dr. Marlo
Lewis, of the Reason Foundation.
To get a copy of the document, visit the Declaration
Foundation website, or, write to the Declaration Foundation,
PO Box 3207, Alexandria, VA 22302, or call (202) 543-6620;
(202) 543-6230 (fax).
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