Harmonizing Sentiments : The Declaration of Independence and the Jeffersonian Idea of Self-Government [Paperback]

Hans L. Eicholz (Author)

Book Description

Series: Masterworks in the Western Tradition, Vol. 4 | Publication Date: February 22, 2001

Harmonizing Sentiments: The Declaration of Independence and the Jeffersonian Idea of Self-Government introduces the reader to the major issues concerning America's statement justifying independence. It covers the first controversy between loyalists and patriots, explores the document's intellectual sources, evaluates the degree to which the Declaration's ideals were fulfilled or rejected by the Constitution, and concludes by investigating its current political and legal implications. Readers will be intrigued by the author's argument for approaching the Declaration with an understanding of eighteenth-century political economy and ideas about a natural social order. The importance of Jefferson as a conduit through which these ideas were expressed is defended against recent attempts to de-emphasize the centrality of the Declaration's author. The work concludes that the Declaration's focus upon the abuses of power is still relevant for understanding American political institutions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 245 pages
• Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing (February 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820439614
• ISBN-13: 978-0820439617
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,482,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting New Look at the Declaration, September 4, 2003

By 

From The Independent Review (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harmonizing Sentiments : The Declaration of Independence and the Jeffersonian Idea of Self-Government (Paperback)

"Whereas other recent scholars of the Declaration have examined it as rhetoric or questioned its originality in order to depreciate its importance, Eicholz shifts the debate from issues of political culture back to more traditional questions of political theory. The Declaration mattered a great deal, he maintains, because its words expressed widely accepted beliefs that originated with seventeenth-century English "Old Whigs who were opposed to the abuse of power and in favor of limited government" (p. 4). Unlike scholars who argue for the primacy of one intellectual tradition, however, Eicholz is quick to note that the ideas of the Declaration represent "a synthesis" of "rational self-interest" with "moral sense" philosophy and "the received wisdom of the common law" - all of which contributed to the revolutionary belief that "human order was not fundamentally the product of political mediation" (p. 72). Jefferson's task was to express these harmonizing sentiments, and Eicholz believes he accomplished that task well."

-From "The Independent Review," Fall 2002

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Review of The Declaration, April 24, 2004

By 

G. F Gori "Jeffersonian libertarian" (Manteca, ca United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Harmonizing Sentiments : The Declaration of Independence and the Jeffersonian Idea of Self-Government (Paperback)

Han Eicholz's Harmonizing Sentiments is an excellent review of the meaning of the Declaration of Independence. Eicholz shows how the Declaration is a document of 18th century political economy and the Enlightenment. Eicholz debunks the belief of modern historians that Thomas Jefferson was not central to the creation of American liberty. Eicholz points out that Jefferson's Declaration was the ipitome of the natural rights philosophy, and is central to the idea of self government. Overall and excellent study.