What I've been reading

 

I'm a very slow reader, but this book took me forever to finish.  It's so thick and heavy, it makes a great doorstop with 932 pages of text, 122 illustrations and sketches, an index, epilogue, and notes bringing it to a whopping 960 pages.  It was written by Dr. Jill Lepore in 2018.  It is a well written, fascinating read.

Lepore begins by trying to answer questions raised in 1787 by Alexander Hamilton.  He asked if societies were or were not capable of establishing good government of choice or rather one created by accident or force.  To answer the question, Lepore begins in 1492 with Columbus's voyage and ends with the final chapter addressing issues up to and including immediately after the election of our former president in 2016.

 In my opinion, Lepore spends a great deal of time discussing and looking at the impact and influence the slavery question had on our country during its creation and infancy.  She suggests slavery had a major impact on our growing country, its economics, and its treatment of others.  These abominations can run the gambit from subtle to outright hatred.

The question of slavery is interwoven with what Thomas Jefferson claimed were "these truths": political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people. The American experience depends on these truths, these three political ideas and ideals. 

Lepore compares these to today's modern technology and social media, where people write whatever they choose, often with religious purpose and fervor, or to see what half truths or lies stick against the wall.  She believes all of us must be "tellers of truth." 

It is my opinion that Lepore's book is as relevant today, or possibly even more so than when it was written in 2018.  The recent events that occurred in the Capitol on January 6 is one good example.  

Even though it took me forever to read this book, I really enjoyed it.  It was fair, honest, and unbiased.  It was one I'm certainly glad I borrowed and read.  Thank you for joining me today as I explored the history of the United States and These Truths.