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Give Me Liberty: A History of America's Exceptional Idea
An award-winning historian recounts the history of American liberty through the stories of thirteen essential documents
Nationalism is It supplies feelings of belonging, identity, and recognition. It binds us to our neighbors and tells us who we are. But increasingly -- from the United States to India, from Russia to Burma -- nationalism is being invoked for unworthy to disdain minorities or to support despots. As a result, nationalism has become to many a dirty word.
In Give Me Liberty , award-winning historian and biographer Richard Brookhiser offers up a truer and more inspiring story of American nationalism as it has evolved over four hundred years. He examines America's history through thirteen documents that made the United States a new country in a new a free country. We are what we are because of them; we stay true to what we are by staying true to them.
Americans have always sought liberty, asked for it, fought for it; every victory has been the fulfillment of old hopes and promises. This is our nationalism, and we should be proud of it.
Nationalism is It supplies feelings of belonging, identity, and recognition. It binds us to our neighbors and tells us who we are. But increasingly -- from the United States to India, from Russia to Burma -- nationalism is being invoked for unworthy to disdain minorities or to support despots. As a result, nationalism has become to many a dirty word.
In Give Me Liberty , award-winning historian and biographer Richard Brookhiser offers up a truer and more inspiring story of American nationalism as it has evolved over four hundred years. He examines America's history through thirteen documents that made the United States a new country in a new a free country. We are what we are because of them; we stay true to what we are by staying true to them.
Americans have always sought liberty, asked for it, fought for it; every victory has been the fulfillment of old hopes and promises. This is our nationalism, and we should be proud of it.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published November 5, 2019
39 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
About the author
Richard Brookhiser
30 books123 followersRichard Brookhiser, author of Founding Father (Free Press 1996), is a senior editor at National Review and a columnist for The New York Observer.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 16, 2020
Thirteen essays and a conclusion, drawing for each easy on an important document in American history. The author adds background and analysis to this very interesting collection of documents/speeches to draw out and drill down on the idea of liberty. The selection of topics was very thoughtful and the analysis very though provoking. Nationality was a sub-theme. The only reason for no fifth star is that his sentence structure and diction were at times disconcerting to this reader. A very good intellectual exercise for a very important but ethereal topic.
September 9, 2020
In his own words, Richard Brookhiser writes that, in lieu of a complete history of America, “This book focuses instead on thirteen documents, from 1619 to 1987, that represent snapshots from the album of our long marriage to liberty. They say what liberty is.” The author then goes on to say that, in so many words, liberty is the defining essence of the American character and of its nationalism, nationalism being the loyalty and devotion given to one’s nation, important for maintaining unity and thus national and individual survival. Brookhiser asserts that the unique feature of America’s nationalism is its concern for individual liberty.
Brookhiser then goes on to flesh out what these 13 documents mean, explaining them by giving context, by telling the stories of how key characters brought them into being. He devotes a chapter to the men and women behind each document:
1. MINUTES OF THE JAMESTOWN GENERAL ASSEMBLY (1619, VA; Self-Government: equal voting)
2. FLUSHING REMONSTRANCE (1657, Flushing, New Amsterdam (NY); Religious Liberty)
3, TRIAL OF JOHN PETER ZENGER (1735, NYC: Free Speech)
4. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (1776, Philadelphia, Inalienable Rights: liberty inseparable from equality)
5. CONSTITUTION OF THE NEW-YORK MANUMISSION SOCIETY (1785, NYC, Racial Equality)
6. CONSTITUTION (1787, Philadelphia; Blessings of Liberty: Forbidding aristocracy)
7. MONROE DOCTRINE (1823, Wash DC; Hemispheric Liberty: No European aristocracy in Americas)
8. SENECA FALLS DECLARATION (1848, NY; Women’s Vote)
9. GETTYSBURG ADDRESS (1863, PA; Conceived in Liberty: Joined Declaration & Constitution)
10.THE NEW COLOSSUS (1883 for Bedloe’s/Liberty Island; Liberty Enlightening the World - Statue of Liberty: Emma Lazarus’ poem about the Land of Liberty)
11,CROSS OF GOLD SPEECH (1896, Chicago; Economic Equality: money should not destroy equality)
12.ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY FIRESIDE CHAT (1940, Wash DC; National Defense: World Freedom Connection)
13.TEAR DOWN THIS WALL SPEECH (1987, Berlin, Germany; Berlin Wall: Communism should not rule Europe)
Among the very interesting stories, some interesting items include:
1. Jamestown burned to the ground in 1676 (coincidentally 100 years before the Declaration of Independence).
2. Good government rests on a. consent; b. rights (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, etc).
3. When the British evacuated New York City at the end of 1783, a third of it had burned; all of its trees had been cut for firewood; commerce had only just revived.
4. Men want liberty, but they surrender it for security or take other people’s liberty to bolster their own self-esteem. Securing liberty’s blessings takes vigilance and effort.
5. The bloodiest battle of the American Revolution was Camden (SC; the first great engagement of the Civil War – the First Battle of Bull Run – injured four times as many).
6. In order to raise money for the preservation of Mount Vernon, Edward Everett gave his most famous talk, on the character of George Washington, 129 times.
7. “The poem she [Emma Lazarus] wrote was a grave and passionate sonnet. Sonnets in English follow Shakespeare or Petrarch. The Shakespearean rhyme scheme, three quatrains and a couplet (4 + 4 + 4 + 2), is inherently lopsided and a high risk. The concluding couplet is either a grand slam, bringing all the preceding lines home, or a swing and a miss. The Petrarchan pattern, two interlinked quatrains and a sestet (8 + 6), allows for the possibility of a more developed, two-step argument. This was what Lazarus achieved.” Lazarus’ words: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send them, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
8, The Statue of Liberty’s seven-rayed crown is a symbol of the sun, radiating the endowments of nature’s God. The Statue itself is a logo – the logo of Liberty.
9. In the presidential election of 1896, William Jennings Bryan spoke of the Cross of Gold. This related to the bankers’ control of the money supply, based upon the gold system. Gold was in limited supply, and debts of the unmoneyed class were substantial. Silver was in plentiful supply. If silver were introduced into a bimetal system, inflation would essentially lower the value of debts. For the poor, gold would be a painful cross to bear; silver would be salvation. The Progressive Party’s Bryan would travel 18,000 miles by train, speaking over 600 times. The Republican Party’s McKinley brought ¾ of a million supporters by train to his home in Canton, OH, to hear him speak from his porch. Unfortunately for Bryan, he suffered a loss of credibility (a spike in wheat prices proved his economic forecast incorrect, while it proved McKinley’s correct), and McKinley edged him out in the vote.
10. Reagan’s "Tear Down This Wall" speech was opposed by the “boys” in the State Department.
From my reading elsewhere, however, I’d like to point out a few items upon which I'd like to comment:
P 76 “John Adams later guessed that only a third of Americans supported independence; the remainder were opposed or neutral.”
According to “All Things Liberty,” Adams was referring not to the American Revolution but the American view of the French Revolution. From my own research on the American Revolution, other historians place the ratio somewhere around 10% for the American Revolution, 10% against, and 80% just wanting to be left alone. However, as the Revolution progressed, the percentages varied wildly depending upon prospects for independence. It's been written that, at most, those for the Revolution did not exceed 45% and those against 20%.
P 92 “George Washington drafted a will in July 1799, five months before he died, directing that his 123 slaves be freed at the death of his wife.”
This is correct, but it’s important to note that Washington personally owned 124 slaves; he allowed for the immediate freedom of his valet, Billy Lee. Upon the death of Martha (1802), his will stated his other 123 slaves would be freed (but, fearing for her safety, Martha freed them in 1801). Of the other slaves of 317 total Washington controlled at the time of his death, 40 were leased/rented, and the remaining 153 were dower slaves, whose fate was determined according to the will of Martha’s first husband, Daniel Parke Custis.
P 192/3 On this page Brookhiser writes: “On the first page of his unfinished novel, 'Amerika,' Franz Kafka describes the mighty woman, whom he had never seen, holding a sword. Where was his editor? What she holds is a torch.”
Why the author mentions this, I’m not sure, given that Kafka’s work was posthumously published in 1927, many years after the poem and the Statue of Liberty came into being.
The book ends with: “Liberty is never easy. You have to know what it is, believe that it is essential, and watch over and defend it. May these documents, and the men and women who wrote and endorsed them—settlers, villagers, jurors, farmers, advisors, speechwriters, politicians, statesmen—be an example for us.”
Bottom line, Brookhiser admirably sets in place what he sees as the bricks, the building blocks of freedom, the documents written by leaders of character that called out, institutionalized, guaranteed, and enshrined our liberties. This is what he sees as our foundation of freedom. This is how he believes America was built. Overall, as a fellow author, I'd say that the book is an excellent read and highly recommended!
Brookhiser then goes on to flesh out what these 13 documents mean, explaining them by giving context, by telling the stories of how key characters brought them into being. He devotes a chapter to the men and women behind each document:
1. MINUTES OF THE JAMESTOWN GENERAL ASSEMBLY (1619, VA; Self-Government: equal voting)
2. FLUSHING REMONSTRANCE (1657, Flushing, New Amsterdam (NY); Religious Liberty)
3, TRIAL OF JOHN PETER ZENGER (1735, NYC: Free Speech)
4. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (1776, Philadelphia, Inalienable Rights: liberty inseparable from equality)
5. CONSTITUTION OF THE NEW-YORK MANUMISSION SOCIETY (1785, NYC, Racial Equality)
6. CONSTITUTION (1787, Philadelphia; Blessings of Liberty: Forbidding aristocracy)
7. MONROE DOCTRINE (1823, Wash DC; Hemispheric Liberty: No European aristocracy in Americas)
8. SENECA FALLS DECLARATION (1848, NY; Women’s Vote)
9. GETTYSBURG ADDRESS (1863, PA; Conceived in Liberty: Joined Declaration & Constitution)
10.THE NEW COLOSSUS (1883 for Bedloe’s/Liberty Island; Liberty Enlightening the World - Statue of Liberty: Emma Lazarus’ poem about the Land of Liberty)
11,CROSS OF GOLD SPEECH (1896, Chicago; Economic Equality: money should not destroy equality)
12.ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY FIRESIDE CHAT (1940, Wash DC; National Defense: World Freedom Connection)
13.TEAR DOWN THIS WALL SPEECH (1987, Berlin, Germany; Berlin Wall: Communism should not rule Europe)
Among the very interesting stories, some interesting items include:
1. Jamestown burned to the ground in 1676 (coincidentally 100 years before the Declaration of Independence).
2. Good government rests on a. consent; b. rights (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, etc).
3. When the British evacuated New York City at the end of 1783, a third of it had burned; all of its trees had been cut for firewood; commerce had only just revived.
4. Men want liberty, but they surrender it for security or take other people’s liberty to bolster their own self-esteem. Securing liberty’s blessings takes vigilance and effort.
5. The bloodiest battle of the American Revolution was Camden (SC; the first great engagement of the Civil War – the First Battle of Bull Run – injured four times as many).
6. In order to raise money for the preservation of Mount Vernon, Edward Everett gave his most famous talk, on the character of George Washington, 129 times.
7. “The poem she [Emma Lazarus] wrote was a grave and passionate sonnet. Sonnets in English follow Shakespeare or Petrarch. The Shakespearean rhyme scheme, three quatrains and a couplet (4 + 4 + 4 + 2), is inherently lopsided and a high risk. The concluding couplet is either a grand slam, bringing all the preceding lines home, or a swing and a miss. The Petrarchan pattern, two interlinked quatrains and a sestet (8 + 6), allows for the possibility of a more developed, two-step argument. This was what Lazarus achieved.” Lazarus’ words: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send them, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
8, The Statue of Liberty’s seven-rayed crown is a symbol of the sun, radiating the endowments of nature’s God. The Statue itself is a logo – the logo of Liberty.
9. In the presidential election of 1896, William Jennings Bryan spoke of the Cross of Gold. This related to the bankers’ control of the money supply, based upon the gold system. Gold was in limited supply, and debts of the unmoneyed class were substantial. Silver was in plentiful supply. If silver were introduced into a bimetal system, inflation would essentially lower the value of debts. For the poor, gold would be a painful cross to bear; silver would be salvation. The Progressive Party’s Bryan would travel 18,000 miles by train, speaking over 600 times. The Republican Party’s McKinley brought ¾ of a million supporters by train to his home in Canton, OH, to hear him speak from his porch. Unfortunately for Bryan, he suffered a loss of credibility (a spike in wheat prices proved his economic forecast incorrect, while it proved McKinley’s correct), and McKinley edged him out in the vote.
10. Reagan’s "Tear Down This Wall" speech was opposed by the “boys” in the State Department.
From my reading elsewhere, however, I’d like to point out a few items upon which I'd like to comment:
P 76 “John Adams later guessed that only a third of Americans supported independence; the remainder were opposed or neutral.”
According to “All Things Liberty,” Adams was referring not to the American Revolution but the American view of the French Revolution. From my own research on the American Revolution, other historians place the ratio somewhere around 10% for the American Revolution, 10% against, and 80% just wanting to be left alone. However, as the Revolution progressed, the percentages varied wildly depending upon prospects for independence. It's been written that, at most, those for the Revolution did not exceed 45% and those against 20%.
P 92 “George Washington drafted a will in July 1799, five months before he died, directing that his 123 slaves be freed at the death of his wife.”
This is correct, but it’s important to note that Washington personally owned 124 slaves; he allowed for the immediate freedom of his valet, Billy Lee. Upon the death of Martha (1802), his will stated his other 123 slaves would be freed (but, fearing for her safety, Martha freed them in 1801). Of the other slaves of 317 total Washington controlled at the time of his death, 40 were leased/rented, and the remaining 153 were dower slaves, whose fate was determined according to the will of Martha’s first husband, Daniel Parke Custis.
P 192/3 On this page Brookhiser writes: “On the first page of his unfinished novel, 'Amerika,' Franz Kafka describes the mighty woman, whom he had never seen, holding a sword. Where was his editor? What she holds is a torch.”
Why the author mentions this, I’m not sure, given that Kafka’s work was posthumously published in 1927, many years after the poem and the Statue of Liberty came into being.
The book ends with: “Liberty is never easy. You have to know what it is, believe that it is essential, and watch over and defend it. May these documents, and the men and women who wrote and endorsed them—settlers, villagers, jurors, farmers, advisors, speechwriters, politicians, statesmen—be an example for us.”
Bottom line, Brookhiser admirably sets in place what he sees as the bricks, the building blocks of freedom, the documents written by leaders of character that called out, institutionalized, guaranteed, and enshrined our liberties. This is what he sees as our foundation of freedom. This is how he believes America was built. Overall, as a fellow author, I'd say that the book is an excellent read and highly recommended!
November 11, 2019
Richard Brookhiser's latest book brings all his talents together to offer a short history of liberty in America seen through the eyes of 13 documents. These thirteen chapters together make for a fascinating and inspiring history of the American ideal of liberty. They highlight how we as a nationa and people wrestled with the idea and its implications; how we strove to live up to the ideal and the role rhetoric and language played in our progress.
This is Brookhiser at his best. Eloquent, pithy, even witty, but with deep appreciation for history; how it works and what it means. He is a master at capturing people, places and events in few but memorable words and this book, in roughly 260 pages, highlights that ability once again. A must read for lovers of history and liberty alike; young and old.
This is Brookhiser at his best. Eloquent, pithy, even witty, but with deep appreciation for history; how it works and what it means. He is a master at capturing people, places and events in few but memorable words and this book, in roughly 260 pages, highlights that ability once again. A must read for lovers of history and liberty alike; young and old.
May 20, 2020
A simple primer on the development of the idea of civil liberty in North America. There is nothing new here, but Brookhiser's essays are a good reminder of the value of Anglophone America's liberal-conservative heritage in a time when certain types of statism seem increasingly attractive to thinkers on the right.
March 17, 2020
When a professional baseball pitcher loses his curve ball, he goes back to the basics to fix his delivery. Richard Brookhiser looked at a divided United States losing its way and went back to the development and struggles associated with 13 key documents that provided the basic structure of U.S. nationalism. Rather than write a ponderous tome for historical scholars, in 262 readable pages, Mr. Brookhiser 's GIVE ME LIBERTY traces the formation of America's exceptional ideas, including not only liberty, but other closely related ideas: consent of the governed, freedom, democracy and the God-given human rights of equal individuals.
Without a king, the United States lacks hereditary succession. Those who would be president need possess the rousing oratory skills of William Jennings Bryan (See chapter 11.) and the political wisdom to perpetuate the exceptional ideas U.S. leaders have defended in the past.
Without a king, the United States lacks hereditary succession. Those who would be president need possess the rousing oratory skills of William Jennings Bryan (See chapter 11.) and the political wisdom to perpetuate the exceptional ideas U.S. leaders have defended in the past.
April 27, 2020
Every so often you need a 30,000 foot reminder of some broad concept. This book is good for that and I think provides some excellent vignettes to make its point. Some of the lesser known episodes (the trial of Peter Zenger, the Flushing Remonstrance, and the cross of gold speech) are well described and summarized to their essence. I liked reading about those. Some of the other episodes weren't as well discussed - the Seneca Falls Declaration didn't tell me too much.
Due to its brevity, the book probably won't convince anyone that American nationalism embraces the concept of liberty, full stop. But it charts a historical trend that deserves serious consideration even by those who disagree. If you're looking for a more detailed treatment, don't look here. But for 30,000 feet, it's a good start.
Due to its brevity, the book probably won't convince anyone that American nationalism embraces the concept of liberty, full stop. But it charts a historical trend that deserves serious consideration even by those who disagree. If you're looking for a more detailed treatment, don't look here. But for 30,000 feet, it's a good start.
December 8, 2019
Give me Liberty was a fantastic recounting of the philosophical principles that make America special. Brookhiser used documents from the colonial period through the Cold War to highlight how increasing freedom and liberty has always been a part of the US’s history. He also framed the fight for freedom as a struggle, which is accurate. Brookhiser used nuance and was not overly jingoistic in a book whose subject could easily be twisted in a blindly partisan way. Each chapter read like an essay and the author skillfully wove the documents together throughout the book.
June 28, 2020
"Give Me Liberty: a History of America's Exceptional Idea" traz um panorama histórico da ideia e dos distintos conceitos de liberdade desde a formação dos EUA em tempos coloniais até os dias atuais. No livro, Richard Brookhiser faz uma compilação de treze documentos históricos diversos datados de 1619 a 1987 (panfletos, normas jurídicas, discursos, julgamentos, etc) que ajudaram a moldar a ideia de liberdade como foco da cultura política americana.
De início, a ideia de liberdade é tratada em face da metrópole e é introduzida com as Assembleias Gerais em Jamestown em 1619 e continuada com a Declaração de Independência e a Revolução Americana. No patamar religioso, a Flushing Remonstrance de 1657 direcionada ao então governo holandês de New Amsterdam inicia a questão da liberdade religiosa com a defesa da possibilidade de culto para os Quakers de Flushing.
Dentre outros de seus variados aspectos, a liberdade de expressão é discutida a partir do julgamento de Peter Zenger em NYC em 1735. A liberdade para os escravos encontra uma de suas raízes na constituição da NY Manumission Society em 1785, presidida por John Jay (primeiro presidente da Suprema Corte). O voto feminino remonta à Convenção de Seneca Falls em 1848 e ao trabalho de Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
O último dos treze documentos, de 1987, traz a ideia da liberdade no período da Guerra Fria a partir do discurso de Reagan em frente ao Portão de Brandemburgo desafiando Gorbatchov a derrubar o muro de Berlim ("Mr. Gorbatchov, open this gate! Mr. Gorbatchov, tear down this wall!").
No todo, o livro de Brookhiser é repleto de fatos históricos interessantes e muitas vezes desconhecidos acerca de grandes acontecimentos da história americana. Leitura interessante e recomendada.
De início, a ideia de liberdade é tratada em face da metrópole e é introduzida com as Assembleias Gerais em Jamestown em 1619 e continuada com a Declaração de Independência e a Revolução Americana. No patamar religioso, a Flushing Remonstrance de 1657 direcionada ao então governo holandês de New Amsterdam inicia a questão da liberdade religiosa com a defesa da possibilidade de culto para os Quakers de Flushing.
Dentre outros de seus variados aspectos, a liberdade de expressão é discutida a partir do julgamento de Peter Zenger em NYC em 1735. A liberdade para os escravos encontra uma de suas raízes na constituição da NY Manumission Society em 1785, presidida por John Jay (primeiro presidente da Suprema Corte). O voto feminino remonta à Convenção de Seneca Falls em 1848 e ao trabalho de Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
O último dos treze documentos, de 1987, traz a ideia da liberdade no período da Guerra Fria a partir do discurso de Reagan em frente ao Portão de Brandemburgo desafiando Gorbatchov a derrubar o muro de Berlim ("Mr. Gorbatchov, open this gate! Mr. Gorbatchov, tear down this wall!").
No todo, o livro de Brookhiser é repleto de fatos históricos interessantes e muitas vezes desconhecidos acerca de grandes acontecimentos da história americana. Leitura interessante e recomendada.
March 14, 2023
What is the American Ideal? What is meant by the American experiment? How did it all start? Give Me Liberty: A History of America's Exceptional Idea by Richard Brookhiser is an excellent attempt to answer how it all started and it continued. This is history at some of its best. Richard Brookhiser chose thirteen examples of how the country came to be our shared philosophy. Some of the choices are obvious and some of them every bit essential, but not so well know to the average reader.
Give Me Liberty: A History of America's Exceptional Idea is an excellent read and highly enjoyable. It is both an easy to ready style and yet chock full of great information that delivers both an excellent history lesson, but also the explanation of why these choices are so important. Richard Brookhiser has pulled off a feat by giving the reader enough of a background to provide context, but not so much as to bog down the read. It is quite a trick and it works beautifully.
Take the time and read this excellent book. You will be glad you did and it is an essential start to try and understand the American mind.
Give Me Liberty: A History of America's Exceptional Idea is an excellent read and highly enjoyable. It is both an easy to ready style and yet chock full of great information that delivers both an excellent history lesson, but also the explanation of why these choices are so important. Richard Brookhiser has pulled off a feat by giving the reader enough of a background to provide context, but not so much as to bog down the read. It is quite a trick and it works beautifully.
Take the time and read this excellent book. You will be glad you did and it is an essential start to try and understand the American mind.
December 31, 2019
A lively survey of various expressions of American devotion to liberty and equality over the centuries, from the Jamestown General Assembly to President Reagan's call to tear down the Berlin Wall. The book intelligently presents a collection of 13 uniquely American documents that all U.S. citizens should read and learn to appreciate before they finish high school. It is interesting that this collection of worthies ends in the 2oth century. Will our current century produce the same commitment to our beloved American ideals?
June 1, 2023
It felt like Brookhiser thought just putting famous speeches in a book would make it good. It didn't. It was fine and it was nice to reread some of the more obscure ones but it all felt cliche and hamfisted.
You can skip this one.
You can skip this one.
December 3, 2019
Excellent introduction to some of the seminal documents of American history. Stressing the positive about our history, namely our (never perfected) dedication to Liberty and Equality.
February 9, 2020
Highlights 13 important documents in American history that touch on liberty. Very easy and quick read. Good starting point for reference but not very deep.
Read
February 4, 2021A tremendous insight into the creation of the USA and a warning of things to come.
December 30, 2023
Awesome. Focuses on documents and events that truly define liberty, not what people say it means.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews