Declaration Of Independence Didn't Matter For Decade: Stanford

PALO ALTO, CA — Next to Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson has always been regarded as an interesting character in our nation's history. At no other time is this more apparent than on the historic day of July 4, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was approved by the U.S. Congress.

Jefferson, its primary author, went on a small shopping spree and bought seven pairs of women’s gloves and a thermometer, according to the legendary state man's records as revealed by Caroline Winterer, a Stanford University professor of history in the School of Humanities and Sciences.

"The short answer is I really don't have any hard evidence that points to why Thomas Jefferson bought those particular items," Winterer told Patch. "Except that it's true that Jefferson did like to record the temperature every day, and it was not uncommon in that period for men to do shopping for women."

Winterer, who has been reading the correspondence between the Founding Fathers for her research, learned that much of their exchange had little to do with independence but with tactical operations instead, the Stanford News Service reported.

Her colleague, Stanford historian and scholar Jonathan Gienapp, also discovered it took over a decade for the Declaration of Independence to matter in American life. It wasn’t until the 1790s that the document was revived for partisan purposes, he told the news service in an article led by Alex Shashkevich.

Here, Winterer and Geinapp discuss other lesser-known facts with their news service division about the history of Independence Day they discovered during their research.

Both Gienapp — an assistant professor of history, and Winterer— the Anthony P. Meier Family Professor in the Humanities and director of the Stanford Humanities Center, specialize in the history of the United States. Gienapp’s latest book is "The Second Creation: Fixing the American Constitution in the Founding Era," while Winterer made a contribution with her recent book "American Enlightenments: Pursuing Happiness in the Age of Reason."

• Are there ways that your personal historical research ties to July 4 or the Declaration of Independence? What are some interesting findings or conclusions that you’ve made?

Winterer:

"Historians spend their time reading a lot of pretty boring documents to get to the golden nuggets. I’ve been reading letters from the Founding Fathers during that time, and you’d be surprised how many letters were sent and received on July 4 that have nothing to do with independence — even in 1776.

Stanford historian Jonathan Gienapp analyzed debates of early U.S. lawmakers in the decade following the Constitution’s creation. He argues these discussions shaped how Americans view this important document today.

A fair number of letters had to do with military operations – people telling George Washington about the position of the troops and other information about the American Revolution’s events. It’s important to remember that hostilities had been going on for some time between Britain and America by the time the Declaration of Independence was approved by Congress on July 4, 1776. That document gave the conflict a higher purpose."

Is there something that you found out through your research about the history of July 4 that the public might not know about?

Gienapp:

"One thing that is not well known is that it took quite some time for the Declaration of Independence to matter in American life. That might seem difficult to believe since it is regarded as the nation’s foundational text containing its governing creed. Yet, for well over a decade after it was written, it was largely forgotten and ignored.

Only during the 1790s was the Declaration revived for partisan purposes. Jefferson became one of the leaders of the opposition party to the administration of George Washington, and Jefferson’s Republican supporters began celebrating him as the author of the Declaration.

On the other side, Federalists pointed out that a congressional committee, and not Jefferson alone, had authored the document. As the two sides fought over the matter, the Declaration became an important political symbol. Following the War of 1812, as America’s founding generation began passing from the scene, the Declaration was commemorated. What all of this shows is that there was nothing straightforward or inevitable about how the Declaration became one of the pillars of our civic life."