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o chose john adams benjamin franklin robert r livingston and roger sherman the committee assigned jefferson the task of producing a draft declaration as proposed in thomas paine s common sense for its consideration john adams in his autobiography recalls this of jefferson s selection as chairman mr jefferson had been now about a year a member of congress but had attended his duty in the house but a very small part of the time and when there had never spoken in public and during the whole time i satt with him in congress i never heard him utter three sentences together the most of a speech he ever made in my hearing was a gross insult on religion in one or two sentences for which i gave him immediately the reprehension which he richly merited it will naturally be enquired how it happened that he was appointed on a committee of such importance there were more reasons than one mr jefferson had the reputation of a masterly pen he had been chosen a delegate in virginia in consequence of a very handsome public paper which he had written for the house of burgesses which had given him the character of a fine writer another reason was that mr richard henry lee was not beloved by the most of his colleagues from virginia and mr jefferson was sett up to rival and supplant him this could be done only by the pen for mr jefferson could stand no competition with him or any one else in elocution and public debate iii jefferson s writing of the original draft took place in seventeen days between his appointment to the committee until the report of draft presented to congress on june 28th thomas jefferson drew heavily on george mason s virginia declaration of rights passed on june 12 1776 common sense state and local calls for independence and his own work on the virginia constitution jefferson s original rough draft was first submitted to benjamin franklin and john adams for their thoughts and changes jefferson wrote because they were the two members of whose judgments and amendments i wished most to have the benefit before presenting it to the committee iv thomas jefferson s doi draft courtesy of the library of congress authenticate your declaration of independence click here the entire committee reviewed the declaration after franklin and adams s changes after much discussion 26 additional changes were made from jefferson s original draft the committee presented it to congress on friday june 28th which ordered it to lie on the table according to historian john c fitzpatrick the declaration s genesis roughly speaking is the first three sections of george mason s immortal composition virginia declaration of rights thomas jefferson s preamble to the virginia constitution and richard henry lee s resolution v congress was called to order on july 1st at 9am and serious debate consumed most of that hot and humid monday late in the day it was apparent that the delegates from pennsylvania and south carolina were not ready to pass the lee resolution for independence additionally the two delegates from delaware were split so debate was postponed until the following day on the morning of july 2 1776 the new york delegates wrote the newly elected provincial congress in nyc for instructions as the vote for independence was eminent the ny provincial congress had adjourned due to the british fleet s arrival off sandy hook their letter was held until the ny provincial congress reconvened in white plains congress opened that morning with both robert morris and john dickinson deliberately abstaining on the vote for independence by not attending the session the remaining pennsylvania delegation voting yes for independence vi south carolina leader s son arthur middleton chose to ignore his absent and ailing father s loyalist wishes changing the colony s position to yes finally the caesar rodney who was summoned by fellow delegate thomas mckean vii arrived suffering from a serious facial cancer and afflicted with asthma after riding 80 miles through the rain and a lightening storm he broke delaware s 1 to 1 deadlock by casting the third vote for independence all 12 colonies except for ny whose delegates were not empowered to vote adopted the july 2 1776 resolution introduced by richard henry lee and john adams declaring independence from great britain richard henry lee s resolution courtesy of the national archives delegates who voted against or abstained on july 2 and or july 4 1776 george read de voted against but signed the declaration of independence on august 2 nd 1776 john alsop ny no authority to vote for independence was granted by new york hence abstained but resigned his seat in objection once ny approved independence george clinton ny no authority to vote for independence was granted by new york hence he abstained and left congress on july 8 1776 to serve in the military robert r livingston ny no authority to vote for independence was granted by new york hence he abstained despite serving on committee of five that drafted the declaration of independence henry wisner ny no authority to vote for independence was granted by new york but reportedly voted for the declaration of independence john dickinson pa abstained or absented himself feeling independence was premature but remained in congress drafting the articles of confederation charles humphreys pa voted against independence and was replaced as a pa delegate thomas willing pa voted against independence but would donate 5 000 to supply the revolutionary cause after the declaration of independence passed robert morris pa abstained or absented himself but signed the declaration on august 2 1776 eight men signed who weren t even elected to congress until after july 4 th 1776 but signed the declaration of independence include william williams ct charles carroll of carrollton md matthew thornton nh benjamin rush pa george clymer pa james smith pa george taylor pa george ross pa delegate thornton received permission to sign the declaration of independence even though he wasn t elected to the continental congress until september 1776 john adams would write 29 years later on this july 2 1776 debate the subject had been in contemplation for more than a year and frequent discussions had been had concerning it at one time and another all the arguments for it and against it had been exhausted and were become familiar i expected no more would be said in public but that the question would be put and decided mr dickinson however was determined to bear his testimony against it with more formality he had prepared himself apparently with great labour and ardent zeal and in a speech of great length and all his eloquence he combined together all that had before been written in pamphlets and news papers and all that had from time to time been said in congress by himself and others he conducted the debate not only with great ingenuity and eloquence but with equal politeness and candour and was answered in the same spirit no member rose to answer him and after waiting some in hopes that some one less obnoxious than myself who was still had been all along for a year before and still was represented and believed to be the author of all the mischief i determined to speak it has been said by some of our historians that i began by an invocation to the god of eloquence this is a misrepresentation nothing so puerile as this fell from me i began by saying that this was the first time of my life that i had ever wished for the talents and eloquence of the ancient orators of greece and rome for i was very sure that none of them ever had before him a question of more importance to his country and to the world they would probably upon less occasions than this have begun by solemn invocations to their divinities for assistance but the question before me appeared so simple that i had confidence enough in the plain understanding and common sense that had been given me to believe that i could answer to the satisfaction of the house all the arguments which had been produced notwithstanding the abilities which had been displayed and the eloquence with which they had been enforced mr dickinson some years afterwards published his speech i had made no preparation beforehand and never committed any minutes of mine to writing before the final question was put the new delegates from new jersey came in and mr stockton one of them dr witherspoon and mr hopkinson a very respectable characters expressed a great desire to hear the arguments all was silence no one would speak all eyes were turned upon me mr edward rutledge came to me and said laughing nobody will speak but you upon this subject you have all the topicks so ready that you must satisfy the gentlemen from new jersey i answered him laughing that it had so much the air of exhibiting like an actor or gladiator for the entertainment of the audience that i was ashamed to repeat what i had said twenty times before and i thought nothing new could be advanced by me the new jersey gentlemen however still insisting on hearing at least a recapitulation of the arguments and no other gentleman being willing to speak i summed up the reasons objections and answers in as concise a manner as i could till at length the jersey gentlemen said they were fully satisfied and ready for the question which was then put and determined in the affirmative viii john adams wrote abigail adams on july 3 1776 yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in america and a greater perhaps never was or will be decided among men a resolution was passed without one dissenting colony that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states and as such they have and of right ought to have full power to make war conclude peace establish commerce and to do all the other acts and things which other states may rightfully do you will see in a few days a declaration setting forth the causes which have impell d us to this mighty revolution and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of god and man a plan of confederation will be taken up in a few days on july 2 1776 the association known as united colonies of america officially became the united states of america ix students and teachers of us history this is a video of stanley and christopher klos presenting america s four united republics curriculum at the university of pennsylvania s wharton school the december 2015 video was an impromptu capture by a member of the audience of penn students professors and guests that numbered about 200 click here for more information consequently it was the date of july 2 1776 that john adams thought would be celebrated by future generations of americans writing to his wife abigail adams a second letter on july 3 1776 but the day is past the second day of july 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of america i am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival it ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to god almighty it ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade with shews games sports guns bells bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more you will think me transported with enthusiasm but i am not i am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this declaration and support and defend these states yet through all the gloom i can see the rays of ravishing light and glory i can see that the end is more than worth all the means and that posterity will tryumph in that days transaction even altho we should rue it which i trust in god we shall not x in 1855 american archives historian peter force wrote of this event in his book the declaration of independence or notes on lord mahon s history of the american independence the adoption of this resolution on the 2nd of july 1776 was the termination of all lawful authority of the king over the thirteen united colonies made by this act of the congress thirteen united states of america the americans now owed no more allegiance to england than they owed to germany or france or spain they were no longer rebels or insurgents they claimed their recognition as one among the family of nations of the earth and they maintained and sustained the claim it was in the end acknowledged by the king of england himself after the 2nd of july 1776 the english armies with their hessian allies were the invaders of america sent to reduce the independent states to unconditional submission to the crown of england and yet this day has no place in lord mahon s history the day on which was consummated the most important measure that had ever been debated in america after the resolution was passed the continental congress turned to the debate over the language in the committee of five s formal declaration of independence time was short and congress adjourned until wednesday the 3rd the debates of july 3rd and 4th altered the manuscript and with these changes the declaration of independence was considered by the committee of the whole thomas jefferson was disappointed by the depredations made by congress writing the pusillanimous idea that we had friends in england worth keeping terms with still haunted the minds of many for this reason those passages which conveyed censure on the people of england were struck out lest they should give them offense the clause too reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of africa was struck out in compliance to south carolina and georgia who had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves and who on the contrary still wished to continue it our northern brethren also i believe felt a little tender under these censures for tho their people have very few slaves themselves yet they had been pretty considerable carriers of them to others xi despite these july 4th changes and previous committee edits jefferson is rightfully considered the main author of the declaration of independence john adams in his autobiography recalls this of jefferson s pen the committee had several meetings in which were proposed the articles of which the declaration was to consist and minutes made of them the committee then appointed mr jefferson and me to draw them up in form and cloath them in a proper dress the sub committee met and considered the minutes making such observations on them as then occurred when mr jefferson desired me to take them to my lodgings and make the draught this i declined and gave several reasons for declining 1 that he was a virginian and i a massachusettensian 2 that he was a southern man and i a northern one 3 that i had been so obnoxious for my early and constant zeal in promoting the measure that any draught of mine would undergo a more severe scrutiny and criticism in congress than one of his composition 4thly and lastly and that would be reason enough if there were no other i had a great opinion of the elegance of his pe...
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