American Literature / Unit 5 AML 0412 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Jefferson and the Declaration as Prose
Captions available
The idea
Jefferson read Newton, Harrington, Hobbes, Locke and Voltaire, and his library later founded the Library of Congress. The Declaration of seventeen seventy-six states a premise, derives a right, lists the evidence, and concludes, which is why it reads as an argument rather than a proclamation.
In practice
Premise, right, evidence, conclusion.
Where people slip
The document's form is a legal brief.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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