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The SCRIPT

Bill Mick

Renewal by Anderson, bringing you hour 3 of a Tuesday morning, and that means it’s time for Dave Bowman and Dave. Does history in this hour headline at Bill Mcdot com Trump vision and on that post you will find a link to all of Dave Bowman’s work and they’ll take you to the Dave bowmanshow.com and you can link to everything he does from that page. So links for you there if you want to catch up with Dave and see what’s going on. Dave, we spent a lot of time talking about the crafting of the Declaration of Independence. Now we’re going to take a look at it and it at its structure and what it’s doing and how it’s done it and. I don’t know. I I don’t know if you can characterize this as anything other than brilliant and how it was put together.

Dave Bowman

I don’t think so either. And, of course, has been the goal all along. To get to this point and it’s taken us. 1213 weeks to get to that. To that point, where we actually have the document in our hands, what went into it? What happened? But now we’re here. And I want you to take your metaphorical copy of the Declaration of Independence or your real one if you have it. Kind of hold it in your hands for. A moment, but I. Don’t want you to think of it as a dusty piece of parchment behind the glass of the National Archives in Washington, DC, guarded by the National Guard right now. I want you to. Think of that document as a building itself. It’s a structure of ideas, of arguments. It’s designed to last. Every stone was placed with precision. Every arch supports the next. It’s not just a random pile of words, it’s a deliberate design built to carry the weight of a new nation. Now on the surface of it, it seems like it’s just a statement to the world that the 13 colonies are, you know, breaking away from Britain. But if you look closer, you’re going to see a framework built from the best materials the founders could find. Stone from grease and roll, shaped by civic virtue and the art of persuasion. Fresh timber from the Enlightenment philosophies cut from the idea of natural rights and consent to the government. Solid floors from the British Constitution mounted or grounded. Sorry in the Magna Carta and. The Bill of Rights. And we’ve got reinforcing steel girders from colonial experience forged in the belief that liberty is fragile. And power always needs to be checked. Jefferson and his colleagues did not simply borrow these elements. They fit them together in a way that no one. Had ever done before. The preamble serves as a grand entrance, welcoming all with universal principles. The statement of purpose explains the break. The long gallery of grievances supports the argument with evidence, and the conclusion will seal the structure with the pledge of independence and mutual honor. Nothing in this document is accidental language sequence logic, emotion all work together. Like Keystone and Arch, and the result is a structure that can withstand war, change and centuries of debate. Today we start our walk through this building together and we’ll see why the Declaration of Independence remains the blueprint of liberty.

Bill Mick

And we pick it up in one minute on 92.7 FM, WMB. So Dave, let’s start breaking this building down because it was it was so well crafted and with purpose and intent as you have mentioned. It it’s a wonder to behold.

Dave Bowman

We have we have to start a long time ago. One of the things that I will tell you if you ever sit in my. Lectures, classes, whatever. Is that if you do not have a classical understanding of Roman and Greek history. Sorry. You’re really you’re. Not going to have the foundation that you need to have to understand how this came to be. The stories that today historians will try to tell you, our mythology, the Roman myth, whatever. The founders didn’t see it that way. They saw this as Roman history. They understood Roman civic virtue. They understood. The Republic of Rome, in ways that we. Don’t even think about, I mean. You know it’s the. It’s the ongoing meme about how many times a day does the average American man think about the Roman Empire?

Bill Mick

Fire.

Dave Bowman

Well, it’s a lot, but. We should be thinking about the Roman Republic, which for 500 years. Was the most powerful Republican in history. Was it perfect? No. No Republic ever is. But it is the model. It’s full of civic virtue. It’s full of Cicero’s oratory, which is an interesting subject for this week. It’s full of Republican ideals as models, and so we have to understand those things. So over the next few weeks, we’ll be delving into some Roman history. It’s full of enlightenment, thought John Locke’s natural rights, his social contract, his ideas about the consent of the governed. Now, while these were common ideas and understood, it was almost required reading for members of Congress and members of the of the leadership. Of the United. States. Not everybody understood those ideals. From rock they understood them innately, and it was a very American ideology that Locke had managed to stumble on. There is a British constitutional tradition. We’ve talked about this before. The ancient rites of Englishmen. This is something that we’ve we’ve talked about is at at great extent with the, with the taxes and the likes of that this idea. That. Since the time of the Magna Carta. In 12/15. Which basically said that the king was bound by laws. This is one of the problems that King George had with the idea of the Patriot King. He is bound by the law. He cannot violate those things, and so the colonials asking him to do that. It is going to be a problematic he’s not going to be able to do that. Well, that goes back to the Magna Carta in 12/15, which bound the king to the law. There’s an English Bill of Rights that comes along in 1689. It strengthens Parliament, it makes Parliament supreme. Much as later on in 1787, we will write a document that will make Congress Supreme. As opposed to the President, these are things that these are ideas that are coming from here and these are ideas that are in play. These charters. That the that the colonies had. All promised them the rights of Englishmen, even on this side of the Atlantic. They basic all the colonial charters that were issued by the king and by Parliament. Said OK, go to the new world. But you’re still Englishmen. You still have these rights, you. Still have these. Ideas. And so coming here, we still had this belief that, hey, we have these rights, we have these privileges, we have these responsibilities. And part of the problem, of course, as we’ve talked about in the preceding 12 weeks, is that. We didn’t feel like we. Were getting those. You know, we didn’t feel like we were getting that treatment. We felt like we were getting kind of the short shrift of things. Lastly, there’s this idea that. Is very American in its. In its application, there’s a historian by the name of Bernard Balin, who, who describes it very well. This idea that Americans came to believe that liberty, and we talked about this all the way back in the beginning. Self determination, liberty. Is very fragile. And that power will corrupt things. And once power corrupts, liberty is in danger. It is the first thing that goes. We could spend hours talking about Washington, DC and bring that into the. When the colonials read writers like Trenchard and Gordon, who warned that government power is always trying to expand and must be continually checked. We saw each new tax each override of colonial assemblies. It wasn’t just bad policy, it was another brick in the wall of tyranny. And that’s why the Declaration of Independence. Doesn’t just list.

Bill Mick

Complaints.

Dave Bowman

It paints them as part of a deliberate plan. Deliberate plan to establish an absolute despotism over this. Land over these colonies. And once you. Understand that once you see that position, once you understand what we’re driving at. You can only come to 1 conclusion. Which is that we have to break free. I want to break free. And we have to do that before it’s too late because of the longer we wait. The more this absolute despotism that’s established over thus. Well, as they will say. The idea becomes that as long as this as long as evil is sufferable, will suffer. And as you become more and more used. To it, you’re going to put up.

Bill Mick

With.

Dave Bowman

So when Jefferson puts his pen to paper, he’s not just starting from scratch. As I said, he’s pulling stone from Rome. He’s pulling from the Enlightenment. He’s pulling from the British constitution. And he’s pulling from our experience as colonies and he’s setting them together into a foundation that is going to hold up a new nation. And that foundation is going to last us. Well so far, 250 years. Question is, how much longer can?

Bill Mick

It last.

Dave Bowman

And once we understand what’s in it, hopefully we’ll see that like Rome, those virtues can last. Forever.

Bill Mick

We certainly hope that’s the case and I appreciate the opportunity to explore it. Glad you’re along with us for this Tuesday edition of Bill Mick Live. You can follow us on Instagram at WMB Radio.

Speaker 3

It’s a take on history you won’t find anywhere else. Dave does history on Bill Nick Live.

Bill Mick

OK, well you might find them on the link that I gave you at our showcase today. Trump vision. On that page, you got a link to Dave Bowman and everything he does, and he’s with us every Tuesday, bringing, as Dave does history and Dave’s getting ready to break down this amazing document where we going next.

Dave Bowman

Sorry, you’re going to hear my pod is dying. So for the next 10 or 15 seconds, that’s going. To go off, listen if the influences. What we just talked about in the last segment are the foundation. Then the structure of the declaration is its framework and Jack Jefferson. He doesn’t just spill words out onto a page. This isn’t. This isn’t just, you know, a press conference from a politician in Washington. It’s built like a legal brief. Like a speech that’s meant to be heard, like a piece of architecture meant to stand for centuries. It’s going to come to us in essentially. Four parts, and unfortunately, William, we’re not going to have time to go into all 27 of the grievances today. We will, but it’s going to take us some time to kind of. Get ourselves to that point before we start going through them. Part 1 is the preamp. This is a soaring front entrance to the document. You know it in Congress, July 4th, 1776. The unanimous declaration. It declares here that all men are created equal. And that they have unalienable rights that are given to them not by government but by their creator. These are ideas that. Again. They’re not new ideas, but to be stated like this is unheard of. It says that then the governments are instituted to protect those rights, and that when those governments fail. The people have. A right and even a duty to alter or abolish them. And then this is where Jefferson will channel some Enlightenment philosophy and take it a little bit further. The Greeks and the Romans never would have recognized the idea of equality as as Jefferson. Had put it. That was something newly being stated. I mean, it was something that we understood, but the Romans and Greeks would have never seen it that way. And that’s one of the things about the Declaration of Independence, I think, is important to keep in mind. It’s an idea. It is a stretch goal. It’s something. We’re reaching for we knew we. Weren’t there then? And we know in some ways we’re not there now, but we continue to as the next document would say. Continue to make a more perfect union. It takes time. The second part is the statement of purpose. This is the explanation for why the document even exists. Jefferson writes that out of respect for the opinions of mankind, the colonists will now state their reasons for separating. Yeah, we’re going to tell you why.

Speaker

Order.

Dave Bowman

It’s diplomacy on paper. It’s a signal that the. New Nation is not just rebelling. We’re not just, you know, trying to trying to. We don’t like this. And so we’re leaving. We are making a reasoned, thoughtful case to the entirety of the world. Again, something that hasn’t necessarily happened before and. Really ever again, although there have been some attempts to. But nothing like. This point up to this point has ever. And that’s what makes this document in many ways so, so unique.

Bill Mick

So Dave, this is it. It’s being crafted very intentionally and is that for? The attention of the king and the parliament is that for the attention of the rest of the. World and how this?

Dave Bowman

Ohh I think. It’s I think it’s for the world. It’s gonna get the King’s attention. It’s gonna get Parliament’s attention, but I think it’s really. For the world. So we’ve got Part 1, which is of course the preambles. Part 2 is the statement of purpose. Then we get to Part 3, which is William. ‘S favorite part. And and the longest part. This is the grievances. 27 specific things that we are going to accuse King George, the third of now. Keep in mind, remember that there are other things we wanted to have in the document that that got axed out, particularly with regards to slavery. And our complaints. Odd to our ears that they may be about the Scottish we again I can’t. I can’t even explain it to you why colonials hated the Scots so much, but as A general rule. They were not. Most of society didn’t see the Scottish in very positive light and we actually put that in the original draft. That got yanked along with slavery. These these bill of particulars against George third. Is not a random list. We start with legislative obstruction. We’re going to move through how the king has interfered, and you’ll notice that it’s the king. We we’re not blaming Parliament anymore. Now we’re blaming the king. His interference with justice. It it. Then ends with an accusation that the king himself is waging war against the colonies. The the very people that. Are supposed to be his, his, his beloved people. The rhythm is going to build, it’s going to escalate the charges, you know, get worse and worse and each line tightens up the case against the king. Jefferson uses repetition, so the points start to echo in the reader’s mind. It’s it’s brilliant writing. As as Adams would say, he can write 10 times better than I can. Then we get to the conclusion. The conclusion is the actual act of cutting. The cord. This is where the. Collins and we’re done. The colonies are now free and independent states with full powers to levy war, conclude peace contract alliances, and oh, by the way, conduct trade, which we’re already doing. But you know, now we’re saying we we can. It is a declaration of sovereignty. And. I think in many ways, importantly, A pledge that we will defend it. The 56 men who will sign this will commit their lives, their fortune, their sacred honor to that cause, and that invokes. And echo of an ancient oath of loyalty to the Republic that the Romans. Instituted back in 509 BCE when they took what was then known as the oath of Brutus to defend the Republic. Again. Any man who tried to set himself up as king, they had a requirement. They were required to kill that man. You. You don’t tolerate a king. And most of Roman Republican history is that that tension of that oath. To to maintain. Through it all, Jefferson will balance logic, moral authority, emotional appeal, and he’ll move from principle to action in a way that feels invisible by the time you reach that last sentence, you don’t even notice. It’s classical rhetoric adapted for the modern. And it’s built to persuade your heart and your head. It’s more than just words on a. Paper. It’s a design. And with the grand entrance of the preamble, it moves through the supporting hall of the purposes and grievances, and it ends in that strong final Chamber of independence. And like any grids, design their stories. Behind that creation.

Bill Mick

We continue and pick those up as we get the opportunity at our next segment, we will invite you in 321-768-1244 with the talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app. As we continue looking at the structure of the Declaration of Independence.

Speaker 3

Call Bill now 321-768-1240.

Bill Mick

Renewal by Anderson, bringing you this hour, Dave does history on Bill, Mick live our Liberty 250 series continues as we are taking a look at the structure of the Declaration of Independence Day. Where we going next.

Dave Bowman

So a good. Building has to survive storms it. It has to do more than just look impressive. It has to last it. Has to stand up. The Declaration of Independence was not just built for July of 1776. The structure that Jefferson came up with was designed to endure storms, both political and cultural, and for generations to come. The genius of the declaration is in the how it fits together, how those four parts work together. The principles in the preamble. Justify the grievances the grievances justify independence. It mirrors legal reasoning. It makes the claim it offers the evidence it renders the judgment, and it states the remedy. This approach will appeal to reason, morality, and emotion all at once. And it’s why it has remained so persuasive for so long. Its legacy. Is influence on documents far beyond America? In a few years hence the French declaration. Of the rights of man. And of the citizen. The abolitionist manifestos of the 1830s through the 1860s. The women’s rights conventions later on. And even into the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, they all borrow from the form and cadence of the Declaration of Independence as well as its promise and its intent. The careful arrangement of ideals arguments will become a model for movements that suit that seek to claim their own liberty. And in fact, in 1945 Ho Chi Min will virtually copy the American Declaration of Independence when he issues the Declaration of Independence from Japan of Vietnam. You have to wonder, what if we’d have paid more? Attention to that then? Instead of just kind of blowing it off. This is where America’s unwritten constitution will begin to grow. This idea that we have these certain understandings of things the declaration will plant principles that are not spelled out in law, but they live in our national conscience, ideas like equality and right to pursue. Happiness have been debated. They’ve been expanded, redefined. But they continue to act as the standard by which we measure ourselves in each generation. We know that we’re not. Always going to reach those those benchmarks. But we have this guide, we have this. Ideal that we continue to strive for that we continue to move towards and that’s what Jefferson has given us with this incredible structure. This incredibly written document. Now it’s important to remember that there are structural contradictions here. Slavery is going to persist. We all know that. We all understand that. We also understand the. The strange dichotomy of a Virginia writing that all men are created equal. While owning slavery. But again, we’re talking about ideals here. And I think based on what? He said at the time and what was discussed. With him and Franklin and Adam. I don’t necessarily think that Jefferson liked slavery. He understood its moral problems. But he didn’t have a solution to. It neither did anyone else. And in fact. The American solution to it would probably be the only one that actually ended slavery completely, cleanly, and ultimately, even the British, who would outlaw slavery in 1833, wouldn’t really outlaw it until 1937. The women, of course, are excluded from political life now. We see that as a as a contradiction, but understand that culture was much different in 1776. And that women, while not necessarily being politically involved, were politically involved. I love the line in the movie of my big Fat Greek women letter wedding about, you know, the man is the head of the house, but the woman. She’s the neck and I think we see very clearly from the relationships of of of Dolly Madison and and Abigail Adams that women were very involved with this stuff and very influential. Indigenous peoples, of course, were created as obstacles to expansion. For me personally, this is a huge issue. I’m I have issues with that, but again these are ideal. And the gaps between the ideals and reality. Those have been the fault lines where later generations have had to push for change, but we can push for that change because we have this architecture in the declaration that allows those challenges to be made. Within the framework that it will establish. And when combined with the Constitution. We have a way to proceed forward without necessarily descending into what so much which has happened so many times in history. Chaos, confusion. And indeed death. The Declaration of Independence is a political masterpiece because of what it says, and because of how it is built. It draws upon the wisdom of the past. It speaks to the present, and it leaves room for the future. It leaves room to reshape and expand its own meaning. Its walls have been tested, its root has held. And its foundation is still strong enough to inspire those today. Who believe in liberty. We’ve looked at the foundation, we’ve looked at the structure, we’ve looked at the enduring strength. Over the next few weeks, months, year, we’re going to open up the door and we’re going to really delve into what it says, what it means. The actual verbiage, why it says that way where the ideas came from. As we explore what we’re going to call this blue plant. Of liberty and what it means today.

Bill Mick

We’ll continue our conclusion in just 60 seconds here on WMB. 321-768-1240, if you’ve got thoughts on today’s Dave, does history, Dave, I think the key thing that you’ve hit on here. Is that this is about ideals. And not perfection. We had not attained this, and many would argue we have not attained it today. That doesn’t mean you don’t hold the ideals up there and strive to reach them. And, and I think that’s the hope that’s written in this.

Dave Bowman

I think that’s one of the things that frustrates me most about modern life in America. Is that we take the approach of, well, the Union isn’t perfect and we don’t necessarily act like all men are created equal, so therefore. All of this stuff. Is invalid as opposed to seeing it as a goal. To work towards within the frameworks that we have. The I I cannot tell you how many times I’ve gotten that comment from listeners, emailers, texters. You know, if I’d have been there in 17871775, it would have been different. Well, no, it wouldn’t have been because you’re not as smart as Thomas Jefferson or Ben Franklin or John Adams, and they didn’t know how to solve these things. But they knew what they were trying to achieve, and they knew that the way to do that was going to be to preserve liberty and to limit the ability of a government to become despotic. And by doing those two things, they would leave room for the appropriate changes in growth that they needed. In other places. It’s it’s remarkable to me, particularly I, you know, I spent a lot of time doing constitution Thursday and I kind of see this as a constitution Thursday for the declaration. The same ideals are going to enter in in 1787. We’re just going to restructure them a little bit into an actual form of government. We tried it with the Articles of Confederation. It didn’t work because it’s come with some technical issues that we had, but the ideals are the same. The ideals are we have to preserve liberty. The idea of self-determination. And we have to prevent government from becoming despotic, abusive and tyrannical. And if we? Can do those two. Things there is literally nothing that we cannot accomplish.

Bill Mick

As you evaluate this and take a look, what do you feel that Jefferson drew on primarily? Really, as he wrote this. Or was it an equal balance from classical enlightenment things, or the the British Constitution? And I I can see that British Constitution say, well, there’s a structure that that we can look at but. What was the major influence in your?

Dave Bowman

It it, it’s really all three. I mean, you have the British Constitution, the British Bill of Rights, the Magna Carta, these ideas of preventing tyranny, preventing death. Statism combined with the Enlightenment ideals that they had were relatively new. the Enlightenment was not something that was ancient. This was this was a between Montesquieu and Locke and others. This was a reinterpretation of ideas. And if you really want to get into that, you should read Durants Russo and revolution. It’s a long book, but it, but it’ll it’ll talk. To you about how. Radical this idea of liberty really is.

Speaker

It’s.

Dave Bowman

For me personally, it’s that Roman element, particularly the Roman Republic, and again I go back to how many times the founders and even the Framers are going to draw from that Roman Republic. Remember that Washington? This stuff is. So ingrained in them that when the army at Valley Forge is struggling, he puts on the play about Cato and the Roman Republic, and how Cato saved the Republic. This is this is so ingrained in them that it’s second nature. It’s second nature history to them, it’s automatic and it’s history that we don’t have today. When we lament all the time. Well, they don’t teach Latin in schools anymore. That’s not the problem. The problem is we don’t teach Roman history anymore, and because we don’t know that Roman history, we don’t understand the structure of our own government, our own ideals, and our own aims.

Bill Mick

That’s interesting. Hopefully, as we continue to approach this 250th anniversary of this country. We’ll see a renewed appreciation for that. I’ve I’ve got listeners. I’ve got friends who are doing podcasts relating to this in addition to you, with me, that that we are seeing some focus there and as that. Further, and I think we will see further going into next July 4th that this is going to be an exciting time. I just hope it’s not all pageantry and that there’s some seriousness that comes into.

Dave Bowman

Yeah, because I was there for the bicentennial, and I don’t remember any study of any depth I remember celebrate. But not necessarily education. And if we go back to the four reasons why we study history, those are two. Of the reasons. We didn’t we. Didn’t really get that education so much other than schoolhouse. Rock. But you know, that was what.

Bill Mick

You looking back when it was? Amazing, by the way.

Dave Bowman

Yes, there was.

Bill Mick

They did a great job. So as we look ahead, we’ll be going next week as. We get this thing fixed by.

Dave Bowman

You know, I I. Haven’t quite figured it out yet. I I I sent you the the breakdown. And I don’t have. It in front of me right at the moment, but we’re we’re going to start breaking down this volume. We’re going to start going through. This. Document seeing where it’s it, it is there and and what’s the preamble? I guess is where we’re going to go. How we get there? I haven’t quite worked out yet, but we’re going to talk about that opening statement.

Bill Mick

We’ll get there. They puts a lot of work into this. We appreciate it, Dave. Thank you so much. Renewal by Anderson brought you the hour, and Dave Bowman. We’ll look forward to talking to you next Tuesday here on. Bill McGuire, we’ll see you.