Happy Independence Day, folks! — Here is a roundup of some choice reads as we commemorate the birth of our nation:

• Because it’s worth reading again: The Declaration of Independence – view high-resolution images of the original. (This is a part of the “Charters of Freedom”, an exhibit of the National Archives, on the documents that shaped our history.
• Catholic Sources and the Declaration of Independence by Rev. John C. Rager. The Catholic Mind XXVIII, no. 13 (July 8, 1930), looks at synergies between the thought of Aquinas and Bellarmine and that expressed in the Declaration, asking: “Did Jefferson know of Bellarmine?”? (In How Catholic is the Declaration of Independence?, Commonweal takes a look at the “Scholastic-roots-of-democracy theory”; and CatholicHistory.net provides a bibliography on Catholics and the American Founding).
• Learn about Charles Carroll — America’s Catholic Founding Father (Against The Grain).
• What do Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI think about the American Founding?.
• Discover the riches of The Federalist Papers – by way of a commentary by Paul Zummo (The Cranky Conservative), who maintains: “I absolutely believe that an understanding of the Federalist Papers is essential for understanding the U.S. Constitution and, therefore, understanding America.”
• Listen to Johnny Cash recite “I am the Nation”.

Following are two books which I heartily recommend for some engaging historical reading of the American Revolution and our founding fathers. Continue reading →