the declaration of independence and the constitution

The Declaration of 1776, drafted by Jefferson, states the principles: equality, unalienable rights, government by consent and the right of revolution. The Constitution of 1787 and its amendments are the machinery, a federal republic with enumerated powers, separated branches and a Bill of Rights, and the argument over how the two documents relate runs through the whole of American politics.

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States (Bantam Classics, 2008). Read in full, Junior Fall at Torrey Honors. Read again, with the Amendments, in the Roots of American Order summer seminar, June 2026.