Why Freedom Matters: The Spirit of
the Declaration of Independence in
Prose, Poetry, and Song from 1776 to
the Present
A Wonderful Treasury
Freedom. Its an idea worth pledging a life for, in the words of Thomas
Jefferson. A gift outright to the poet Robert Frost. A difficult responsibility,
writes Frederick Douglass. Defiant and enduring, for Maya Angelou.
Quarrelsome, to Kurt Vonnegut. Open-armed and welcoming-Emma
Lazarus.
Why Freedom Matters celebrates freedom in over 100 speeches, letters,
essays, poems, and songs, all infused with the spirit of democracy. Here
are the voices of presidents and slaves, founding fathers and hip-hop

artists, suffragettes, civil rights workers, preachers, labor leaders, and
baseball players. Inspired by the Declaration of Independence, the book is
published in conjunction with The Declaration of Independence Road Trip,
a 31/2-year cross-country educational tour of an extremely rare, original
hand-printed copy of the Declaration, bought at auction by Norman Lear.
The DOI Road Trips mission is to energize Americans by bringing our
founding document to towns small and large across the country; in 2003,
for example, the Declaration and its accompanying exhibit will visit 27
cities from Birmingham to Billings, New Orleans to New York. Like the
document itself, this compelling anthology reveals Americas soul as it
wrestles with questions of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and
strives to fulfill the ideals of Thomas Jeffersons words.
Personal Review: Why Freedom Matters: The Spirit of the
Declaration of Independence in Prose, Poetry, and Song from
1776 to the Present
Buy this book for your family, it is truly remarkable. Using everything from
famous speeches to modern day slam poetry, "Why Freedom Matters"
explains how important the concept of freedom is. The book is broken into
five major sections with the various writings set into the theme of each
section. The writings reflect different parts of american history from both
an American perspective as well as a foreign perspective. D.H. Lawrence
wrote a poem about censors that both makes you laugh and shiver at the
same time. One of my personal favorites in this book is the letter from Kurt
Vonnegut to a chairman of a school board for burning his book. It is his
reaction that still gives me hope for our future as a country. This book also
contains many women from the annuals of history who are mostly
forgotten. This book accomplishes what many school texts do not, giving
an appreciation for history without booring the subject to death. There is
something here for everybody. This is one that should be added to the
personal libraries of every household.
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