declaration of independence american mind who read the final draft of the declaration of independence

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS AN "EXPRESSION OF THE AMERICAN MIND" * by ANDREW J. RECK I No one, not even Thomas Jefferson, claimed originality of thought or expression for the Declaration of Independence. John Adams in Thomas Jefferson wrote the document between June 11 and 28, 1776, in Philadelphia, in a house he was renting near modern-day Independence Hall. The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence describes, or rather, inspires Americans to take up arms and risk their lives for independence from Great Britain, thereby securing a better life. On the eve of the 249th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, preparations are already well under way for the semiquincentennial next year. It is, or should be, a momentous occasion. Yet the significance of this quintessentially American document is contested today as never before. All the revolutionary actions and documents leading to the Declaration express the American idea of political freedom. This lesson plan looks at the major ideas in the Declaration of Independence, their origins, the Americans’ key grievances against the King and Parliament, their assertion of sovereignty, and the Declaration’s process of revision. The American Whigs believed the British Parliament and Crown were attempting to impose on them what the Declaration of Independence called “absolute Despotism” and “absolute Tyranny.” Crown and Parliament—and American Tories—disagreed. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS AN "EXPRESSION OF THE AMERICAN MIND" * by ANDREW J. RECK I No one, not even Thomas Jefferson, claimed originality of thought or expression for the Declaration of Independence. John Adams in A concept of both the Declaration of Independence and the American mind is that all men are created equal. This phrase was developed and written in a time when the American colonies labored under the enigma and curse of the slavery of African-Americans. John Dickinson, Jefferson’s fellow revolutionary and founder, agreed wholeheartedly with the “abstract truth” proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. In the decade leading up to the Declaration, no American had done more than Dickinson to illuminate America’s crisis in light of this truth. On July 4, 1776, the United States officially declared its independence from the British Empire when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration was authored by a “Committee of Five”—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman—with Jefferson as the main drafter. But Jefferson himself later admitted this was the object of the Declaration of Independance. not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject; [in?] terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independant stand we [were?] compelled to take. neither “An Expression of the American Mind”: Understanding the Declaration of Independence The major ideas in the Declaration of Independence, their origins, the Americans’ key grievances against the King and Parliament, their assertion of sovereignty, and the Declaration’s process of revision. The development of the Declaration from a plain ‘statement of the American mind’ to a supra-constitutional, nation-defining document is the history of the United States between Independence and Civil War. University of Houston The Declaration of Independence is an efficient, abstracted summary of the eighteenth-century American mind. Viewed in this context, the Declaration is not only an efficient summary American political thought, but also a careful rhetorical balancing of contending views. Here are a few things every American should know about the Declaration of Independence we celebrate this week (with links to documents that every American should read). First: Don’t let anyone tell you Thomas Jefferson didn’t mean to include African Americans when he wrote “all men are created equal.” riting of his Declaration of Independence some 49 years after it was issued by the Continental Congress, Thomas Jefferson disclaimed ''aiming at originality of principle or sentiment''; his text ''was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion.'' Nearly two centuries later, Pauline Maier, a professor Looking back on the Declaration of Independence almost 50 years later, Thomas Jefferson explained that the document’s purpose was never meant to be thoroughly original; its purpose wasn’t to articulate anything that hadn’t be said before, but to make the case for the American colonies in plain terms and persuade the world to see common sense. “It was intended to be an expression of the Jefferson said the Declaration of Independence was “intended to be an expression of the American mind.” But Jefferson’s language and the man himself seem impervious to historians’ qualifications and caveats. Because modern Americans know what Jefferson really meant, they know their man. Note: The following text is a transcription of the Stone Engraving of the parchment Declaration of Independence (the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.) The spelling and punctuation reflects the original. In drafting the Declaration, Jefferson said he did not aim “at originality of principle or sentiment” but had merely given “an expression of the American mind.” John Adams observed the

declaration of independence american mind who read the final draft of the declaration of independence
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