I am looking for information on the publication of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, or for that matter, any state constitutions, in foreign languages in the United States in the late 18th or early 19th centuries. I remember reading several years ago that Benjamin Franklin thought it important that the Declaration be printed in German, but can't seem to track down that cite. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Michael Oberg
MSU-Billings
histoberg@vixen.emcmt.edu
> I am looking for information on the publication of the Declaration
of
> Independence and the Constitution, or for that matter, any state
> constitutions, in foreign languages in the United States in the
late
> 18th or early 19th centuries. I remember reading several years
ago
> that Benjamin Franklin thought it important that the Declaration
be
> printed in German, but can't seem to track down that cite. Any
help
> would be greatly appreciated.
Try contacting the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and its next-door neighbor, the Library Company of Philadelphia. When I worked at the H.S.P. in the mid-1970s, the two organizations put on a joint exhibition on the Declaration of Independence, using manuscripts from their own collections. I have a fuzzy memory that a German broadside of the Declaration may have been included. The two societies also published a joint descriptive catalogue of the exhibit, which is at home, alas!, but it might be in a few libraries in your area.
Dr. Timothy L. Bratton bratton@acc.jc.edu Department of History/Pol. Science work: 1-701-252-3467, ext. 2022 6006 Jamestown College home: 1-701-252-8895 Jamestown, ND 58405 home phone/fax: 1-701-252-7507
"All ignorance is dangerous, and most errors must be dearly paid. And good luck must he have that carries unchastised an error in his head unto his death." -- Arthur Schopenhauer.
Re: Foreign-language Declar/Constit ( Mon, 16 Sep 1996 07:52:13 EDT)
At 12:32 PM 9/13/96 +0000, you wrote:
>I am looking for information on the publication of the Declaration
of
>Independence and the Constitution, or for that matter, any state
>constitutions, in foreign languages in the United States in the
late
>18th or early 19th centuries. I remember reading several years ago
>that Benjamin Franklin thought it important that the Declaration
be
>printed in German, but can't seem to track down that cite. Any
help
>would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Michael Oberg
>MSU-Billings
>histoberg@vixen.emcmt.edu
A footnote contained in Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, vol.5; p.51, or the CD-ROM edition, record 2679, states: See Lyman H. Butterfield "Psychological Warfare in 1776: The Jefferson-Franklin Plan to Cause Hessian Desertions," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
94 (June 1950):233-41 for a detailed discussion of the entire episode involving Congress' efforts to weaken General Howe's army by encouraging the
desertion of German mercenaries.
A letter from Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Mckean, Aug. 24, 1776 states, "...I send you herewith some of the Resolutions of the Congress translated into their Language." Ibid., record 2684.
Unfortunately a description or the contents of the resolutions is not given.
Richard Dodge d.dodge@worldnet.att.net
Historical Database
Re: Foreign-language Declar/Constit ( Mon, 16 Sep 1996 08:02:00 EDT) Michael:
This is not exactly what you asked for, but is possibly of relevance. The D of I and state constitutions were published, according to Richard Morris (THE EMERGING NATIONS AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 41-42), in a propaganda journal of the French government that began in 1776, It was called AFFAIRES DE L'ANGLETERRE ET DE L'AMERIQUE. He quotes Franklin to the effect that the state constitutions were read there "with rapture," but adds that some intellectuals were critical of them. The main source he (Morris) cites for this is Henry E. Bourne, "Constitutional Precedents in the French National Assembly," AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, VIII (1902-3), 466-490.
Doug Deal
History/SUNY-Oswego