Declarations of Independence was published by HarperCollins in 1990. Where A People’s History is a narrative and Disobedience and Democracy is a philosophical argument, this book is an exercise in critical thinking — Zinn takes the major ideological assumptions of American political culture and subjects them to systematic scrutiny.
Each chapter examines a different orthodoxy: the idea that American wars are “just wars” fought for freedom; the idea that the free market produces the best outcomes for the most people; the idea that representative government genuinely represents the governed; the idea that “national security” requires massive military spending and foreign intervention. In each case, Zinn marshals historical evidence to show that these ideas function as ideological justifications for policies that serve elite interests.
The book’s method is Socratic: Zinn asks the questions that conventional political discourse treats as already answered. Why do we assume that obedience to law is a higher value than justice? Why do we accept that voting every four years constitutes genuine democratic participation? Why do we believe that American military interventions are motivated by humanitarian concern rather than economic interest? The answers are not always comfortable, but the questions are precisely the ones a genuinely democratic citizenry needs to ask.
Collecting Declarations of Independence
First edition (HarperCollins, New York, 1990): Cloth with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $30–$75
- Signed copies: $75–$200