In 1976, the culture critic asked, “What is it that Americans share?”

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” It is to Bradford’s credit that his fiercely graceful gestures convey the seeds of future conflict already abloom in those lines.