Declaration of Independence Archives

Facsimile of the original draft of the United States Declaration of Independence with images of the signers around the border.

The Declaration of Independence: Annotated

Related links to free scholarly context on JSTOR for the foundational document in American government.

What Are We to Make of Thomas Jefferson?

There is perhaps no more enigmatic figure in American history than Thomas Jefferson, born April 13, 1743. How should his legacy be understood today?

Politics & Government

Who Wrote the Declaration of Independence?

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Thomas Jefferson was not then credited with its authorship.

Editors' Picks

Science & Technology

Can We Build a Better Facebook?

Is it time to turn our back on Facebook? And if so, what social network could possibly replace it?

Education & Society

Jews vs. the “Judeo-Christian Tradition”

Since the 1930s, the idea of a “Judeo-Christian tradition” has been used in American politics, but some Jews have always taken issue with the entire concept.

Arts & Culture

Verbatim: Fredric Jameson

Marxist cultural critic Fredric Jameson offered a philosophy of late capitalism that gave us a language for talking about globalization and the end of modernism.

Politics & History

The Genocide Before the Shoah

For a century, Jews in Turkey have maintained a strategic silence when it comes to recognizing the Armenian genocide. Could that be changing?

Arts & Culture

Lost Literacies Strips Down the Dawn of Comics

In his new book, literary historian Alex Beringer demonstrates how the birth of the genre of printed comic long preceded the Sunday Funny Pages.

Support JSTOR Daily