Divided Over the Declaration

David J. Bobb, Ph.D., is President and CEO of the Bill of Rights Institute (BRI), one of the nation’s leading civic-education organizations, whose programs reach tens of thousands of teachers and millions of students annually. A nationally recognized scholar of American political thought, Dr. Bobb has spent more than two decades working to strengthen civic knowledge and constitutional understanding through curriculum development, public programming, and large-scale educational initiatives. Before joining BRI, Bobb served as the founding director of the Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship at Hillsdale College in Washington, D.C., where he built a prominent academic center dedicated to studying the American founding and its enduring relevance. His writing has appeared in major national outlets, and he is a frequent lecturer at universities, civic organizations, and public-policy forums. Bobb has advised state and national leaders on civic education and has been a driving force behind several America 250 initiatives designed to reengage citizens with the nation’s founding ideals. His career has been dedicated to helping Americans—especially young people—understand the principles and debates that shaped the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the evolution of the republic.Tony Williams is a Senior Fellow at the Bill of Rights Institute and one of today’s most widely read interpreters of the American founding. The author of six acclaimed works of narrative history, including The Pox and the Covenant, Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance That Forged a Nation, and Hamilton: An American Biography, Williams has built a distinguished career bringing early American history to life for general readers, teachers, and students. His books have been praised for their dramatic storytelling, meticulous research, and ability to frame historical moments within broader political and ideological currents. Williams has spent more than twenty years teaching, speaking, and writing about the ideas that shaped the nation, with particular expertise in the Revolutionary era, the early republic, and the struggles to define American liberty. At BRI, he helps lead national teacher-training programs, authors curriculum materials used in classrooms across the country, and collaborates with partner institutions on civic-education initiatives reaching millions of learners. A sought-after lecturer, Williams presents regularly at schools, historical societies, libraries, teacher conferences, and civic forums. His deep knowledge of founding-era debates—and his gift for connecting them to the civic challenges of the present—make him a vital voice in the country’s ongoing conversation about the meaning of the Declaration of Independence.

"Divided Over the Declaration is a remarkable book—inspirational, educational, and readable. As authors David J. Bobb and Tony Williams resurface some of the more poignant moments and extraordinary people in our nation’s history, they also expertly explore the lofty ideals and the challenging contradictions that undergird the American experiment. They make abstractions in the Declaration’s preamble, like “liberty” and “equality,” come alive, showing how differently these concepts have been interpreted at different times. Most importantly, these authors remind us that for our democratic republic to flourish in the future, we need to engage more citizens with civics education and history, so that we can continue our centuries-long American tradition of debating about the Declaration."–Lara M. Brown, Ph.D., political scientist and senior policy advisor, The Center on Civility and Democracy, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute “Sometimes a book is published with just the right message at just the right time.  David Bobb and Tony Williams are bringing us that book now. They are masters of the brilliance of our founding documents. The principles not only withstand the test of time, but bind us together whenever we foolishly try and pull apart at the seams. I know their message will resonate with both academics and the average citizen alike.”—Colonel Robert Naething, U.S. Army (retired) “Offers readers compelling evidence of the importance of the Declaration’s promise of equality and liberty in our national history. In each chapter, the authors bring to life the debates over the meaning of this promise and introduce us to the women and men who shaped those debates. The civic conversation they focus on is as critical today as it was in preceding centuries—and the authors make their case for our participation in that conversation today.”—Carol Berkin, author of A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution “This important and insightful analysis of Americans’ longstanding relationship with the Declaration of Independence focuses on that document’s enduring power to both unite and divide. As Bobb and Williams demonstrate, for 250 years Americans have debated how best to interpret and apply the Declaration. The ongoing struggle to make good on its promises and live up to its principles has yielded revolutionary results.”—Robert M. S. McDonald, United States Military Academy, author of Confounding Father: Thomas Jefferson’s Image in His Own Time “Getting Americans interested about America has become both a major challenge and a grave national need. Divided by the Declaration offers an engaging path for citizens… to appreciate our common ground by embracing our tradition of profound argument about our founding document. Bobb and Williams invite us to join the debate so we can discover, or renew, our civic commitment to a country that quite amazingly protects and respects civil disagreement about its core ideals. This is a feast for learners of all ages and backgrounds.”—Paul Carrese, Director, Center for American Civics, Arizona State University, author of Teaching America: Reflective Patriotism in Schools, College, and Culture “A timely book for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and a bold invitation to discuss the meaning of the timeless principles of America’s defining document.”—Shilo Brooks, President and CEO, George W. Bush Presidential Center “Divided Over the Declaration provides a whirlwind tour of American history, driven forcefully forward by its focus on our nation’s founding. . . . This is history as it should be learned, and enjoyed: the push and pull, give and take, over competing conceptions of human flourishing and political community. The word ‘divided’ has come to have overwhelmingly negative connotations, but Bobb and Williams show that being forever divided over the Declaration is in fact a quintessentially American tradition and one that unites us as citizens of our republic.”—Oren Cass, chief economist, American Compass “Bobb and Williams demonstrate that the Declaration of Independence has not only served as a moral touchstone, but a “corrective mechanism” throughout America’s history. Highly readable and peppered with riveting anecdotes, Divided takes the reader on a journey that begins with Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, continues through Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and women’s suffrage in the 19th century, and culminates in the 1963 March on Washington and Martin Luther King and John Lewis. An engrossing history lesson in itself, Divided makes a strong argument for better civics and history education, so that the Declaration’s relevance never fades.”—Joseph Wheelan, author of Mr. Adams’s Last Crusade: John Quincy Adams's Extraordinary Post-Presidential Life In Congress