Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin were named to a committee to prepare a declaration of independence. Jefferson (standing) did the actual writing because he was known as a good writer. Congress deleted Jefferson's most extravagant rhetoric and accusations. View the original document online at the National Archives. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? If you answered “Thomas Jefferson,” you are both right and wrong. While Jefferson authored many of the eloquent and persuasive passages in the proclamation, Timothy Matlack is the scribe whose impeccable handwriting adorns the official, signed parchment on display in the National Archives Rotunda. "Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (1999). Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the Declaration of Independence John Adams (2nd President of the U.S.) and Thomas Jefferson (3rd President) both died on the same day - July 4, 1826 As Jefferson drafted it, the Declaration of Independence was divided into five sections, including an introduction, a preamble, a body (divided into two sections) and a conclusion. Jefferson largely wrote the Declaration in isolation between June 11 and June 28, 1776. The Declaration was a formal explanation of why the Continental Congress voted to declare American independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence is the foundational document of the United States of America. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, it explains why the Thirteen Colonies decided to separate from Great Britain during the American Revolution (1765-1789). The Declaration of Independence was originally written by Thomas Jefferson. When Jefferson had finished his draft, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Jefferson met to make changes. 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 Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776, by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin were named to a committee to prepare a declaration of independence. Jefferson (standing) did the actual writing because he was known as a good writer. Congress deleted Jefferson's most extravagant rhetoric and accusations. At 33, Thomas Jefferson wrote the original draft of America's historic Declaration of Independence, which was approved by the Continental Congress after several days of debate and revisions on Writing the Declaration of Independence . Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence . In June 1775, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. Delegates came from each colony. (A delegate is a person chosen to meet with others to make decisions.) The Revolutionary War had just broken out. Thomas Jefferson is remembered as the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence. Learn about the events that led to the writing of this historic document. Jefferson had two main, but very closely related, purposes in writing the Declaration of Independence. First, he wanted to gain support for the cause of American independence. Settled in his second-floor lodgings at Jacob Graff's house on Seventh and Market streets in Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson set out to apply his knowledge about individual freedom, natural order and British oppression to the writing of a Declaration of Independence. Writing the Declaration. On June 11, 1776, Jefferson holed up in his Philadelphia boarding house and began to write. He borrowed freely from existing documents like the Virginia Declaration of Rights and incorporated accepted ideals of the Enlightenment. Jefferson later explained that “he was not striving for originality of principal or How the Declaration of Independence was written Dramatization of events surrounding the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which was written by Thomas Jefferson and approved by the Continental Congress and signed on July 4, 1776. Despite his many later accomplishments, Jefferson’s principal legacy to the United States arguably remains the Declaration of Independence, the eloquent expression of liberty, equality The Declaration of Independence was written solely by Thomas Jefferson and passed without revision by Congress. The Declaration of Independence was unanimously supported by the Continental Congress, which reflected the unanimity of popular opinion on the issue. Although Jefferson disputed his account, John Adams later recalled that he had persuaded Jefferson to write the draft because Jefferson had the fewest enemies in Congress and was the best writer. (Jefferson would have gotten the job anyway—he was elected chair of the committee.) Historical Notes: One of the most precious historical relics of the United States is the lap desk or writing box upon which Thomas Jefferson wrote his draft of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. [1]
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