It is instructive and moving to hear the entire text in all its beautiful eloquence and with all the inherent irony of its rhetoric of freedom and equality contrasting with the realities of slavery and the treachery practiced on the “merciless Indian savages.” Something about paying attention solely to spoken words for a few minutes provokes deep discussion. We take a bit of time to contemplate the words and ideals that defined the nation. Though the exercise works better in my head than it does in practice-it is always a challenge to get my nine- and six-year kids to sit quietly on a day promising parades and fireworks-I never fail to get something out of the experience. Ours is a family tradition of listening while National Public Radio personalities recite the Declaration of Independence. Every 4th of July, I ask my family to sit down in front of the radio as if we’re tuning in to one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats, the nationally broadcasted speeches the 32nd president made between 19.
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