Celebrating Our Independence

As we celebrate our independence this July 4th, we have collected a list of titles for a variety of reading levels that contain information and opinions about our Declaration of Independence and our history.

Updated June 28, 2023
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Our nation's documents : the written words that shaped our country
Kletter, Melanie
Paper Book
The Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation, and more! The third title in the handbook series from TIME for Kids following Presidents of the United States and 50 States, Our Nation's Documents<...
The Declaration of Independence : introducing primary sources
Clay, Kathryn
Paper Book
The Declaration of Independence has represented American freedom since Thomas Jefferson wrote it more than 200 years ago. Using primary sources, young readers hear the story behind one of America's most important documents from the people who were there when it was signed. Engaging text, colorful...
The Declaration of Independence
United States.
Paper Book
Taken phrase by phrase, inscribed and illustrated, these most famous words ring as true today as they did more than 200 years ago. The Declaration of Independence is considered to be one of the greatest documents of all time. The central section of the declaration is a ringing assertion...
The U.S. Declaration of Independence for everyone
Agel, Jerome.
Paper Book
An illustrated guide to America's birth certificate. On July 4, 1776, a document was announced that shaped the destiny of a nation-the holy Declaration of Independence. Although we Americans celebrate its birth every year, how much do we really know about what it says, how it was created, how it...
The Declaration of Independence
Abramson, Marcia
Paper Book
Everyone knows the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. But did you know that it took until July 9th for General George Washington to get his hands on it? Explore the extreme history of our nation's birth certificate.
Those rebels, John and Tom
Kerley, Barbara.
Paper Book
A brilliant portrait of two American heroes from the award-winning creators of The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)!"Adams and Jefferson help bring forth the Declaration of Independence and... model successful collaboration. Their secret: Speak up and listen to the other guy. Good...
The journey of the one and only Declaration of Independence
St. George, Judith
Paper Book
The surprisingly fun and little-known history behind America's history! Everyone would agree the one and only Declaration of Independence deserves the best. After all, it's at the heart of our country. But since it was signed in 1776, the Declaration has had as many ups and downs...
Declaration : the nine tumultuous weeks when America became independent, May 1-July 4, 1776
Hogeland, William.
Paper Book
This is the rambunctious story of how America came to declare independence in Philadelphia in 1776. As late as that May, the Continental Congress had no plans to break away from England. Troops under General George Washington had been fighting the British for nearly a year—yet in Philadelphia...
Samuel Adams : father of the American Revolution
Puls, Mark
Paper Book
Winner of the 2007 Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award! Samuel Adams is perhaps the most unheralded and overshadowed of the founding fathers, yet without him there would have been no American Revolution. A genius at devising civil protests and political maneuvers that became a trademark of...
American creation : triumphs and tragedies at the founding of the republic
Ellis, Joseph J.
Paper Book
From the prizewinning author of the bestselling Founding Brothers and American Sphinx comes this masterly and highly ironic examination of the founding years of our country.
Our Declaration : a reading of the Declaration of Independence in defense of equality
Allen, Danielle S.
Paper Book
In just 1,337 words, the Declaration of Independence altered the course of history. Written in 1776, it is the most profound document in the history of government since the Magna Carta, signed nearly 800 years ago in 1215. Yet despite its paramount importance, the Declaration, curiously, is rarely...
Our lost declaration : America's fight against tyranny from King George to the deep state
Lee, Mike
Paper Book
Most Americans are familiar with the Constitution as an outline of for limited government. Few, however, understand how significant the Declaration of Independence was as an initial blow in the war against government encroachment. A champion of limited government, Senator Lee reinterprets the...
The nation that never was : reconstructing America's story
Roosevelt, Kermit
Paper Book
Our idea of the Founders' America and its values is not true. We are not the heirs of the Founders, but we can be the heirs of Reconstruction and its vision for equality. There's a common story we tell about America: that our fundamental values as a country were...
Her name was Mary Katharine : the only woman whose name is on the Declaration of Independence
Schwartz, Ella
Paper Book
A rousing picture book biography of the only woman whose name is printed on the Declaration of Independence. Born in 1738, Mary Katharine Goddard came of age in colonial Connecticut as the burgeoning nation prepared for the American Revolution. As a businesswoman...
1776
McCullough, David G.
Paper Book
America's beloved and distinguished historian presents, in a book of breathtaking excitement, drama, and narrative force, the stirring story of the year of our nation's birth, 1776, interweaving, on both sides of the Atlantic, the actions and decisions that led Great Britain to undertake a war...

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