It was June, 1776. Thomas sat in his swivel chair with his lap desk balanced on his knees, thinking deeply. He'd left his hotel in the city to get away from the noisy clip-clopping of horses' hooves on Philadelphia's cobblestone streets. The rooms he rented in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Graff were quiet, but there were flies from the stable across the street. He swatted the flies buzzing around his head. He'd just have to put up with them. He picked up his pen, dipped it in the ink bottle, and began to write.
"The King is a tyrant ... Controls our elections...Cut off our trade ...Sends his troops to burn our towns."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, July 08, 2011 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 News Desk 4 inches; 156 words Type of Material: Correction
Declaration of Independence: A story about the Declaration of Independence on the Kids' Reading Room page in the July 3 Comics II section said that Congress adopted the Declaration on July 2, 1776, and signed it two days later. Congress declared independence on July 2, 1776, and adopted the Declaration two days later; signing didn't begin until Aug. 2 that year. In addition, the article said that when Thomas Jefferson was drafting the Declaration in June, the words he wrote for the opening were, "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another...." Those are the opening words in the Declaration that Congress adopted, but they are not what Jefferson wrote in his first draft. He wrote, "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a people to advance from that subordination in which they have hitherto remained...."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, July 10, 2011 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 News Desk 4 inches; 156 words Type of Material: Correction
Declaration of Independence: A story about the Declaration of Independence on the Kids' Reading Room page in the July 3 Comics II section said that Congress adopted the Declaration on July 2, 1776, and signed it two days later. Congress declared independence on July 2, 1776, and adopted the Declaration two days later; signing didn't begin until Aug. 2 that year. In addition, the article said that when Thomas Jefferson was drafting the Declaration in June, the words he wrote for the opening were, "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another...." Those are the opening words in the Declaration that Congress adopted, but they are not what Jefferson wrote in his first draft. He wrote, "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a people to advance from that subordination in which they have hitherto remained...."
He was writing a document that must show Great Britain's King George III he would no longer rule the colonies.
At last the words he needed for the beginning came to him. On a clean sheet of parchment paper, he wrote, "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another..." .
For the next week and a half he worked on the declaration, writing, "For imposing taxes on us without our consent, For depriving us of the benefit of trial by jury." In the last paragraph, he wrote, "... ...these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states."
Now, in the parlor of the Graff house, John Adams wanted some things changed; so did Benjamin Franklin. Corrections were made. The next morning Thomas stacked the pages on his lap desk. He crossed out words and phrases, inserted brackets around sentences, and wrote the corrections between the lines or in the margins. Then he wrote a new draft that included the corrections. He did that several times, making 47 alterations before the Committee voted to approve it. But the Committee didn't have the final say. Would Congress approve it?
Congress did, but not until 39 more changes were made. Congress adopted it on July 2, and signed it on July 4.
The Founders knew that the Declaration of Independence meant more than just one country separating from another. The ideas expressed in this declaration were so radical, so revolutionary, so unusual, that all the signers risked execution as traitors to England, by signing their names to it.
In a world where tyranny was accepted, it proclaimed that a man's life was his own property to do with as he saw fit. It announced that it was not the job of citizens to serve their government, but the job of the government to protect its citizens rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
It announced the birth of what was to become the freest and most prosperous country on Earth - the United States of America.
In the parlor of the Graff house, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in less than three weeks.
"If it is ever proper for men to kneel, we should kneel when we read the Declaration of Independence...the greatest document in human history..." -- Ayn Rand
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To read the Declaration of Independence in its entirety visit ushistory.org/declaration/document.
Monday, July 4, is Independence Day.
