Weather the four-minute introduction to see some of your favorite actors read the document in Independence Hall. Notice what is read in an individual’s voice and what is read as a chorus and contemplate the document’s ongoing significance…
From Morgan Freeman’s introduction, “The real glory has been our nation’s epic struggle throughout history to close the gap between the ideals of this remarkable document and the sometimes painful realities of American life.”
Two premises from the intro make this video especially necessary for your Fourth of July celebration:
- Thomas Jefferson called the document, “an expression of the American mind.”
- Scholars speculate Jefferson intended the document to be PERFORMED, publicly with words and rhythms written to be spoken in proud and defiant tones in grand public places.
Wow! That was sa-weeeet! I’m going to have to show that to my students; they’ll completely get into it!
What’s neat is that not all of those folk are native-born Americans. And when Graham Greene reads the section on “merciless Indian savages”, there’s a whole new imagining there, isn’t there?
[Of course, there's a sarcastic side of me who wants: 1) to tell Zellweger that she had me at "self-evident", 2) to see Mad Max, Annie Wilkes, and the Hulk go GREEN BOX on the Brits, and 3) to watch as Winona Ryder steals the Declarat-- Oh. That's been done.]
What a wonderful tribute to the Declaration! Leaves one with a tear in the eye.
Perhaps, if the media were to show this periodically more citizens of this country would appreciate what they have and might NOT have.
I will show this stirring video to my AP Government students the first day of class as we begin this year.
Wonderful! I showed this to my students earlier today. It seemed to keep their attention much more than when I just read it. It also makes it (I believe) more profound and understandable when it is “heard” versus “read” (if any of that makes sense . . .)
I plan to do this with my students soon. Good to hear some feedback.
And welcome, Matthew!