Declaring Independence

Transcription

1 Declaring Independence Independence Declared Six months after Thomas Paine's challenge, the Second Continental Congress adopted one of the most revolutionary documents in world history, the Declaration of Independence, a document that became part of an American creed. Most especially, the phrase that "all men are created equal" turned into a goal that would challenge the United States throughout its history. Video: Declaring Equality Declaring Equality focuses on Thomas Jefferson drafting the Declaration of Independence by and on the philosophical and political foundations of equality in that document. Look for answers to these questions when watching the video: Why was Thomas Jefferson chosen to be the primary author of the Declaration of Independence? Where did his ideas come from? What was the purpose of the Declaration in 1776? What is the basic political philosophy expressed in the Declaration? Why are charges brought against the king in the document? Are the charges accurate? Do the charges justify the revolution? What did the statement that "all men are created equal" mean in 1776? Why did Congress excise Jefferson s proposed passage in the Declaration that blamed the king for slavery? How does Jefferson s life reflect the American perspective on the issue of slavery? Video script: Music introduction Actor, Thomas Jefferson: 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. Narrator: These are among the most famous words in American letters, and they were destined

2 to immortalize the man who penned them. But when he wrote them, Thomas Jefferson was doing a job that others had rejected. Joseph Ellis: Jefferson was a member of the Continental Congress in 1775 who had said very little during the course of the debates up until that time; and in fact, Adams said he never heard Jefferson say one or two sentences out loud. He got a reputation as a draftsman, as a person who was not a skilled speaker but was a skilled writer and when the time came to draft the declaration in early June of 1776, a committee was formed. The three most prominent members of the committee were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. Initially, they all thought Franklin would write the declaration because he was the most famous stylist in the American colonies. And Franklin said that he made it a point never to draft a document that would be edited by a committee. And Adams was the next logical choice since he is the socalled Atlas of Independence, the man who had taken the lead in that Continental Congress; but he said that he wanted Jefferson to write it for a couple of reasons. He wanted a Virginian to do it because they needed to bring Virginia along in the cause. He also said that he, Adams, had made himself obnoxious to the other members in the Continental Congress by pressing so hard for independence and therefore the document would attract more criticism; and third, he said because Jefferson can write ten times better than I can. Joseph Ellis: We needed someone who in effect could create a document that was at least in many respects a piece of propaganda and Jefferson was naturally disposed to do that. Actor, Thomas Jefferson: Transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances The world in Jefferson s imagination was divided between the forces of good and the forces of evil and therefore he brought a kind of natural framework of his own that allowed us to see the British king in the most horrible way. And secondly, he had a lyrical capacity. He had the capacity to craft language that floated above events and that allowed you to look up and lift your head; and for different constituencies and different people to hear that language in the way that they would like to hear it. Narrator: Once the task of composing the declaration had been placed on Jefferson s shoulders, he settled down in his Philadelphia apartments and wrote the first draft quickly. However, while in that room hard at work, he was not entirely alone.

3 Actor, Thomas Jefferson: Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, I drew my ideas from the harmonizing sentiments of the day. Joseph Ellis: Jefferson was himself a product of the enlightenment in the sense that he had read books both from French writers and English writers that suggested that the medieval era was now over; that Jefferson agreed with Voltaire, one of the great philosophes of the enlightenment, that the last king should be strangled with the entrails of the last priest and therefore, that we were in a new world in which kings and priests would not rule, but the people at large would rule and natural forces and reasonable men would be able to govern each other. Gordon Wood, Brown University: Well, the notion of all men are created equal is really a powerful notion that is new, that is the enlightenment. There was always a Christian basis to equality, but this is a secular equality that s being appealed to and the notion that government rests on the consent of the people. Those are powerful notions and those are new, for the 18th century, new doctrines with great power. Narrator: But the enlightenment notion of equality and Jefferson s own vision were far narrower than our modern understanding. Edward Countryman: Initially, I don t think it meant any more than as a people, now separate people, the Americans are equal to any other people on earth. That s, I think, what Jefferson had in mind because all you have to do is look at his own life where he certainly didn t practice equality with the women in his life let alone with his slaves. But the interest of the word, the interest of the concept, is that other people could come along and say, Yes, this applies to me too, and that begins almost instantly, and it s still going on to the present day. Narrator: Jefferson was not entirely comfortable with the gap between the ideal of equality and the reality of American slavery. He tried to resolve this in the first draft of the declaration by laying the blame for the slave trade on King George. Actor, Thomas Jefferson: He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery. Narrator: This passage proved too awkward for a congress who didn t want any mention of slavery in a document that purported to promote liberty and equality.

4 Joseph Ellis: This is debated and excised almost completely, and there are a couple of possible reasons. One is that they don t want, the members of the Continental Congress, don t want any mention of slavery in this document to begin with. Because it s an awkward truth that these are men talking about liberty who are also continuing to permit slavery to exist. It s a controversial issue in other words, and would divide the delegations from the North and the South. In addition, it s a preposterous claim to argue that George III is responsible for slavery. Jefferson s actual position, in the paragraph he writes, is very popular in Virginia at that time. In Virginia, at that time, it is very popular to oppose the slave trade, but not to oppose slavery, per se. All the Virginia planters already had their plantations well stocked; therefore, ending the slave trade increased the value of their slaves, and that became the position that most Virginians had throughout the rest of the 18th century. They can sound like they are talking against slavery, and they want to sound that way, but they are really only talking against the slave trade. James Oliver Horton, George Washington University: And Thomas Jefferson was always conflicted over this. I think that Thomas Jefferson was ambivalent about the fact that he wasn t able to live up to his own personal principles; and in some ways, you know, Thomas Jefferson is America because that s what we as Americans are conflicted about. We ve got great principles but we can t always live up to them and sometimes we don t really try and that makes us feel strange about ourselves. I think in some ways Jefferson felt strange about himself. End of video. Video: The Unanimous Declaration After Thomas Jefferson s original draft was scrutinized, debated, and revised, the Declaration of Independence was approved by Congress. The Unanimous Declaration analyzes this process and the end result. Look for the answer to this question when watching the video: What effect did the editing by Congress have on the Declaration? Video script: Music introduction

5 Joseph Ellis: The draft of the declaration that Jefferson had made was revised only slightly by the committee. They made one change, the committee did, prior to submission. Jefferson had said, We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable. Someone, probably Franklin, changed it to self-evident. Narrator: On July 2, Congress turned its full attention to the document, carefully scrutinizing its wording and content. Joseph Ellis: They made about 133 separate revisions. It removes some of the sentimentality that Jefferson has imposed. They removed some of the more melodramatic and preposterous claims. For example, that George III established slavery and we can blame it all on him. Also, that the American colonies never acknowledged the authority of Parliament at all; and that they were, in effect, free and independent from the moment that they reached the shores of North America. That was a wild falsification, and so I think the document retains Jefferson s lyricism but it s also a more cogent and more disciplined document and more stately document as a result. Narrator: Jefferson, however, failed to see the merits in this editing work. Joseph Ellis: Jefferson was sitting in the Congress during the two days of debates, uttered again not a word and was extraordinarily upset that any change in his language was made. And he went to his death, to his grave, believing that every change was a defacement. And Franklin sat next to him during the course of the debate and told him a story of a hatter who d commissioned a sign painter and the sign painter put together a sign with many, many words. And eventually, after many rounds of negotiation, the only thing that remained on the sign was the picture of a hat. Narrator: On July 4, 1776, the delegates formally approved the document officially identified as the unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America. Actor, Male: We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress, assembled, appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states. Patricia Cohen: These men decided to sign it, to put their names to this document. But the

6 moment of signing was in some ways a very difficult one for them, still, because they were in a position of committing treason. There was a war going on already and if they lost the war, they would be traitors to the British government and would suffer the consequences of having challenged the monarchy in this profound way. Actor, Male: 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 honour. End of video. Video: The Men Who Signed The Men Who Signed provides a brief profile of some of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. Look for the answer to this question when watching the video: Why was the signing of the Declaration both difficult and meaningful? Video script: Music introduction Narrator: What became of the signers of the Declaration of Independence? Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, obviously, went on to illustrious political careers; but there were a total of fifty-six men who affixed their names to the document. These men ushered in a revolution that would change the world. Many lost their homes, their health and their loved ones in the pursuit of independence. Francis Lewis estate was ransacked and his wife taken captive while he was attending Congress in Thomas Nelson Jr. ordered his own house bombarded during the war to drive out British officers. Richard Stockton was captured and tortured by the British; he lived the remainder of his life as an invalid. But for all the damage they sustained during the war, the signers also reaped abundant rewards for their efforts. Many went on to become judges, diplomats, and political leaders in the newly

7 formed United States. James Wilson of Pennsylvania helped to frame the U.S. Constitution. Samuel Chase was appointed to the first U.S. Supreme Court. Elbridge Gerry became governor of Massachusetts, served in the U.S. Congress, and was, eventually, elected vice-president under James Madison. Some of the signers tried to incorporate the ideals of the declaration into their own lives. George Ross retired from Congress and returned to Pennsylvania to seek justice for the Indian tribes of his state. George Wythe, a law professor whose students included Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, freed all of his slaves during his lifetime. Benjamin Rush, a physician, was appointed treasurer of the U.S. Mint. But his most profound work was in his advocacy of improved education for women, better care for the mentally ill, and the abolition of slavery. The individual destinies of these fifty-six men were as varied as their signatures. But collectively, they will always be remembered for the day they stepped up to inscribe their names to America s birth certificate. End of video. Activity: Check Your Understanding Historians believe Thomas Jefferson s vision of equality at the time of writing the Declaration of Independence meant the American people were equal to people of other nations. The phrase All men are created equal was not intended to mean equality of individual people, particularly since Jefferson was a slave owner at the time. Congress, however, excised a proposed passage in the Declaration condemning King George III for slavery because the issue was too divisive and controversial, and in reality, blaming the King for slavery stretched credulity. The signing of the Declaration of Independence was both risky and meaningful because signers were in effect committing treason against the British government. They knew that if the Americans lost the revolutionary war, they would face execution.