Jefferson's First Declaration of Independence: A Summary View of the Rights of British America Revisited

This essay examines Jefferson's Summary View of the Rights of British America as evidence of his craft as a storyteller. Specifically, I argue that Jefferson deploys a series of narrative renderings, the rhetorical effect of which is to eliminate the possibility of any genuine reconciliation with the English government. On the basis of this interpretation I conclude that the Summary View represents Jefferson's first declaration of independence.