Our Declaration

For Monday, Allen, ch. 5-22.  (Do not freak out:  the chapters are short.)

Here is the gravestone that Allen mentioned at the Pomona commencement:

Textual analysis and slow reading

• Thinking about how one sentence relates to another;
• Thinking about the origins of terms in the document;
• Thinking about how the document relates to others (p. 33)
• Thnking about what is missing. See pp. 22 on the 2012 campaign.

Patrimony

• Something that you inherit:  heritage.
• Back to "I Have a Dream" "When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir."
• Eric Trump last night: "They want to destroy the monuments of our forefathers. They want to disrespect our flag, burn the stars and stripes that represent patriotism and the American dream."

Democracy

• What is democracy?
• Who decides who "the people" are?  What is citizenship?
• Why is the word not in the Declaration or Constitution?
• What are the conditions of democracy?