Thomas Jefferson
Virginia, age 33. Wrote the first draft, drawing on Enlightenment ideas and his own draft of a Virginia constitution.
Unit 1 · Summer 1776
The Declaration of Independence
Fifty-six men signed their names to treason. Here's why they did it, and what they said.
By the summer of 1776, colonists had been fighting British soldiers for more than a year. But they still hadn't declared independence. In a hot Philadelphia statehouse, Congress finally answered. On this page you'll follow the timeline, meet the writers, read the key lines closely, and test yourself.
Timeline: 1774 to 1776
- · First Continental Congress
Delegates from twelve colonies meet in Philadelphia to protest the Intolerable Acts. They seek their rights as British subjects, not independence.
- · Lexington and Concord
War begins in Massachusetts.
- · Second Continental Congress opens
It becomes the colonies' wartime government and, in June, makes George Washington commander-in-chief.
- · Paine publishes Common Sense
Paine writes, "We have it in our power to begin the world over again." Public opinion swings toward independence.
- · Lee Resolution
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moves that the colonies "are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States." Congress delays the vote.
- · Committee of Five appointed
Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston are asked to draft a declaration. Jefferson writes the first draft.
- · Draft presented to Congress
- · Congress votes for independence
Twelve colonies approve Lee's resolution; New York abstains until it gets instructions. John Adams predicted July 2 would be the day Americans celebrated.
- · Declaration adopted
After cutting and changing about a quarter of the draft, Congress approves the final text. That night, printer John Dunlap begins printing broadside copies.
- · First public reading
The Declaration is read aloud by John Nixon in the State House Yard, outside the Pennsylvania State House.
- · Engrossed copy ordered
Congress orders the text written out neatly on parchment, now titled "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America."
- · The signing
Most delegates sign the parchment, led by John Hancock, the president of Congress. Others sign later; 56 men sign in all.
Key People
The Committee of Five
John Adams
Massachusetts. Independence's loudest champion in Congress; he defended the draft in debate.
Benjamin Franklin
Pennsylvania, age 70, the oldest member. Made small edits to Jefferson's draft.
Roger Sherman
Connecticut. Later the only person to sign the Continental Association, the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration, and the Constitution.
Robert R. Livingston
New York. Served on the committee but never signed. New York had called him home before the August 2 signing.
Also important
Richard Henry Lee
Virginia delegate whose June 7 resolution started the formal move to independence.
John Hancock
President of Congress. His large signature is the first and most famous on the parchment.
King George III
The Declaration's target. Its list of grievances charges him, not Parliament by name, with tyranny.
Reading the Text
The Declaration has five parts: an introduction, a statement of principles (the preamble), a list of grievances against the king, a section on failed appeals to the British people, and a conclusion declaring independence. All quotes below follow the National Archives transcription, including its capital letters.
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
Why it matters: The audience is the whole world. Congress needed foreign allies, especially France, and had to show it was not just a mob in revolt.
"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."
Why it matters: "Unalienable" means rights that cannot be taken or given away. The line ignored enslaved people at the time, including those Jefferson himself enslaved, yet later Americans like Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton used it to demand equality.
"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…"
Why it matters: This is the theory of revolution in one sentence, echoing the English philosopher John Locke: government exists to protect rights, and loses its claim when it stops.
"The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."
Why it matters: A "usurpation" is taking power you have no right to. What follows is a list of charges (27 in the usual count), such as "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent."
"…That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown…"
Why it matters: These words repeat Richard Henry Lee's resolution almost exactly.
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
Why it matters: To Britain, signing was treason, a crime punishable by death. The signers knew what they risked.
Context Cards
Why July 4 and not July 2?
Congress voted for independence on July 2, but it approved the document's wording on July 4, and that date went on the printed copies.
What did Congress cut?
Jefferson's draft blamed the king for the slave trade. Delegates from South Carolina and Georgia, and some Northern traders, objected, and the passage was removed.
Where is it now?
The signed parchment is displayed in the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington, D.C. It has faded badly from age and handling.
Remember the Ladies
In March 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to John: "I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors." The Declaration did not.
Talk About It
- Who was the Declaration really written for: colonists, the king, or foreign nations? Find evidence in the text.
- How could men who enslaved people write "all men are created equal"? How have later Americans used that line?
- If you could add one grievance or one right to the Declaration today, what would it be and why?
Test Yourself
Sources
- National Archives, Declaration of Independence: A Transcription (source of all Declaration quotes).
- National Archives, The Declaration of Independence: A History.
- Library of Congress, Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents.
- Massachusetts Historical Society, Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March 1776.
- Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776), Project Gutenberg #147.
- Office of the Historian, The Declaration of Independence, 1776.
Credits: all illustrations are original SVG drawings made for Jugami.