Andrew Burstein analyzes the rhetorical choices and techniques that made the Declaration of Independence an immortal text.
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Quarterly
May 19, 2026
Andrew Burstein
Of the delegates who assembled in Philadelphia in 1776 for the Second Continental Congress, only Thomas Jefferson possessed the skill, knowledge, and linguistic gifts to make the Declaration of Independence an immortal text. He was the self-appointed conscience of America, and sensational imagery was his stock-in-trade.
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