Audiobook · read by volunteers
Declaration of Independence of the United States of America
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
Read by Jim Cadwell · 1 chapter · 10 min
About the book
On 4 July 1776, the representatives of thirteen British colonies on the North American coast approved a document that announced they were no longer subjects of the British Crown. The Declaration of Independence is one of the best-known texts in political history, and it is also a piece of writing meant to be heard. It opens with its famous statements about equality, liberty and the purpose of government. It then sets out, one grievance after another, the reasons the colonists felt entitled to break away. Thomas Jefferson was its principal author, and its balanced, rhythmic sentences were designed to be read aloud to crowds. In this recording a single volunteer reads the whole text in about twelve minutes. Whatever your view of the history it launched, it is striking to hear the words delivered in full, at the pace they were meant to have.
Introduction
The Declaration of Independence is the document in which the Thirteen Colonies declared themselves independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain and explained their reasons for doing so. It was adopted by the Continental Congress on 4 July 1776, a date that is still celebrated as the national holiday of the United States. It is brief enough to take in at a single hearing, but long enough to reveal its structure: a statement of principles, a long indictment, and a firm conclusion.
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) was the principal drafter of the text, though it was revised by a committee and then by the Congress itself. Its opening passages, with their appeal to natural rights and to the consent of the governed, have been quoted and debated ever since. The central part is a long list of complaints against the British king, presented as a legal and moral case. The text ends with a pledge made by the signers to one another. The Declaration has influenced political movements well beyond its time and place, and it has been cited in many later declarations of rights and independence. It is at once a founding document, a statement of principle and a work of rhetoric.
This recording consists of a single chapter and lasts roughly twelve minutes. It is read by one LibriVox volunteer.
Listening to the Declaration, rather than reading it silently, brings out its structure and its cadence. It is short enough to hear in a single sitting, and it rewards the effort with a fresh sense of how ideas become action.
Public domain
Thomas Jefferson died in 1826: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text