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1776 David Mccullough Summary

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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Perhaps the most famous line from the Declaration of Independence, written on July 4, 1776. 1776 by David McCullough is about just that: the year 1776, though it does mention events in previous and following years, in American history. McCullough’s purpose for writing the book is very clear: to educate readers about the details of the American Revolutionary War from the view of both sides in and around 1776. McCullough achieves this through mostly logos, but uses ethos and pathos just as well. 1776 is written almost in the nature of a textbook, meaning the entire book is filled with logos. McCullough uses a quote from a …show more content…

Right from the start, McCullough proves he did his research. “Material for this book,” he writes, “has been gathered at more than twenty-five libraries, archives, special collections, and historic sites here in the United States, and in the United Kingdom, at the British Library and the National Archives.” (McCullough, 295). McCullough then goes on the thank everyone who was of help to them and where the work at, which would fill up about an entire page. After the acknowledgments, McCullough goes on for another 89 pages citing every single document, book, map, etc. he used to compile the book. His amount of research put into the book gives him credibility because it proves that he was dedicated from the start to provide only the truest of facts with extra details. What McCullough does not mention is that he also the author of two Pulitzer Prize-winning books, Truman and John Adams. This all makes him credible because it shows that this historian is also a very serious author and is capable of winning very highly esteemed

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McCullough reassures us how important this year was for American history. He places his views through his extensive use of research, from battle plans, letters, journal entries, and more. But as important as the Declaration of Independence and political aspects may be, it does not fit in with McCullough’s purpose. His purpose concludes military aspects of 1776 in the war itself. McCullough’s solidifies his views when he said, “Such courage and high ideals were of little consequence, of course, the Declaration itself being no more than a declaration without military success against the most formidable force on earth” (145).

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Within Benjamin Banneker’s letter, he implements pathos in order to illustrate the unjust and hypocritical actions of Thomas Jefferson, in order to exhibit that Jefferson, of all people, should be understanding and ashamed of the fear and injustice which he is imposing. Banneker inflicts these emotions through allusions and flashbacks. The United States was once under the British control, leaving the United States feeling helpless, fearful, and impotent. During this time period, Thomas Jefferson, took part in writing the Declaration of Independence, a document which states the equality of men and the justification of freedom. Banneker alludes to the Declaration in the seventh paragraph to exhibit the hypocrisy which Jefferson demonstrates.

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This book is a very informational book. I like this book because of how much information is in the book. It told me so much about the civil war and slavery that I had not known. I hadn 't know that the war had started only five weeks after Lincoln was put in office(pg.33), or that Lincoln had tried to be a senator before he came president of the United States(pg.17-19). I also like how it tries to go in order from when the events occurred.

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Alike to an instance of teenage rebellion, the young Colonies of North America sought to break free from the oppressive clutches of their parent, the Crown. Thomas Jefferson, in conjunction with other Founding Fathers sought to create a document that would separate the entities, serving as an example for posterity. Thus, The Declaration of Independence was an expression of outrage at the government; as such, verbal appeals to pathos, as well as parallelism, which served the authors’ purpose in asserting the colonies as an independent and separate nation. Seeing as the Declaration was born out of frustration, verbal appeals to pathos are rampant in the document. This is particularly apparent in the following statement: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

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