Garry Wills and the New Debate Over the Declaration of Independence
Ralph E. Luker
As an actual event, the signing of the Declaration was what it was; as a remembered event it will be, for Mr. Everyman, what Mr. Everyman contrives to make it: will have for him significance and magic, much or little or none at all, as it fits well or ill into his little world of interests and aspirations and emotional comforts. — Carl Becker
Among the books which appeared in the Bicentennial's harvest of scholarship, Garry Wills" Inventing America is probably among the most important and certainly among the most controversial. As one reads the book and reactions to it, he can appreciate Paul Conkin's studied attempt at a balanced assessment. "I have never struggled with a more perverse book," said Conkin. "Its strengths justify all the effort, while its faults insure intense frustration. Carry Wills has much to teach an audience. But he so often misinforms that one soon doubts any net gain."
