2024 is the 37th Anniversary of my admission to practice law. The final act of becoming a lawyer is to swear an oath to the US Constitution. As I took that oath in 1987, it crossed my mind that the meaning of this oath was never discussed during law school. I’ve thought a lot about that since. As […]
Birthing of the Declaration of Independence: Part Five, Historical Precedents
The celebration of American Independence Day on the Fourth of July has come to include parades, barbecues and fireworks. The celebrations should include discussions of how the Declaration of Independence came to be. The story began in Part One as The Committee of Five appointed to draft a declaration of independence had dwindled in reality to just Thomas Jefferson […]
Birthing the Declaration of Independence: Part Four, Jefferson’s Selection
The celebration of American Independence Day on the Fourth of July has come to include parades, barbecues and fireworks. The celebrations should include discussions of how the Declaration of Independence came to be. The story began in Part One as The Committee of Five appointed to draft a declaration of independence had dwindled in reality […]
Birthing the Declaration of Independence: Part Three, Virginia Comes First
The celebration of American Independence Day on the Fourth of July has come to include parades, barbecues and fireworks. The celebrations would do well to include discussions of how the Declaration of Independence came to be. Part Three of the Birthing of the Declaration of Independence looks at Jefferson’s state of mind following a meeting […]
Birthing the Declaration of Independence: Part One
This is an excerpt from the new book: Creating the Declaration of Independence, available on Amazon in print and Kindle editions. by David J. Shestokas Thomas Jefferson left the June 12, 1776 meeting of the Second Continental Congress with mixed emotions. His walk from the Pennsylvania State House took him east on Chestnut Street toward the […]
The Resolution for American Independence: Part Three
When Americans celebrate publication of the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, there is seldom reflection upon the many dramas preceding that fateful day. This is the third of a three part series focused on Richard Henry Lee, who placed the question of independence before the Continental Congress in June, 1776. Take a […]
The Resolution for American Independence: Part Two
When Americans celebrate publication of the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, there is seldom reflection upon the many dramas preceding that fateful day. This is the second of a three part series focused on Richard Henry Lee, who placed the question of independence before the Continental Congress in June, 1776. Take a […]
The Resolution for American Independence: Part One
When Americans celebrate publication of the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, there is seldom reflection upon the many dramas preceding that fateful day. This is the first of a three part series focused on Richard Henry Lee, who placed the question of independence before the Continental Congress in June, 1776. The story […]
US Declaration of Independence: Unprecedented Change to the World
On June 7, 1776 Virginia’s Richard Henry Lee stood up in the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia and offered a resolution that would forever change the course of American and world history. “Resolved: that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance […]