American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence

This is a well-written, well-researched, entertaining account of the creation of the United States' Declaration of Independence as well as an analysis of how the declaration has been enshrined as something of a sacred document (a place it did not always hold). Pauline Maier, a history professor at MIT, will no doubt surprise many readers with detective work demonstrating that Jefferson's Declaration of Independence was actually preceded by many local declarations, which have been generally overlooked by historians but which were published throughout the colonies and were well known in their day. American Scripture holds many surprises as it details Jefferson's drafting of the document, the editing process, and the varying regard with which the Declaration of Independence has been held in the past two centuries.

• Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788
• Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America (Simon & Schuster Lincoln Library)
• On Revolution (Penguin Classics)
• From These Beginnings, Volume 1 (8th Edition)
• My Bondage and My Freedom (African American)
• American Dialogue: The Founders and Us
• The Challenge of the American Revolution
• A Delusion Of Satan: The Full Story Of The Salem Witch Trials
• The Pioneers (Signet Classics)
• Moby-Dick (Third Edition) (Norton Critical Editions)