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The text in the second column is approximately that reported by the committee to Congress, and is taken from Jefferson's rough draft. The text in the third column is from the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence. The "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence, one of the great milestones in American history, shows the evolution of the text from the initial composition draft by Jefferson to the final text adopted by Congress on the morning of July 4, 1776. Bracketed words or phrases were added to the original draft and appear in the final draft. General Congress assembled. (This is Professor Julian Boyd's reconstruction of Thomas Jefferson's "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence before it was revised by the other members of the Committee of Five and by Congress. *This is a transcription of Thomas Jefferson's "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence, June 1776, before it was revised by the other members of the Committee of Five and by Congress. **This is a transcription of the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence, July 1776. In June 1776, the United States and Britain had been at war for over a year, and the Second Continental Congress was nearing agreement to issue a formal declaration of independence. A com-mittee of five delegates John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston was formed to create the declaration, and the task of writing a first draft was given to The text below includes Jefferson’s explanatory note and underlines, as Jefferson did, the parts of the Declaration deleted by Congress. In Jefferson’s original transcription, the words and phrases inserted by Congress are displayed in the margin; here they are italicized and placed within curly brackets in the body of the text. The first draft of the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson in early 1776. As support for full separation from Britain gained steam, Congress created the “Committee of Five” consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, and commissioned them to draft an The Declaration of Independence Editorial Note A full analysis of the many textual changes made in the Declaration of Independence from the time it was drafted by Jefferson to the time of its final adoption by Congress has been made in the following: John H. Hazelton, The Declaration of Independence: Its History, N.Y., 1906; Carl Becker, The Declaration of Independence. A Study in the History Why Was the Declaration’s Anti-Slavery Passage Removed? Thomas Jefferson reading the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence to Benjamin Franklin. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images The initial draft of the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jeffersonand was presented to the entire Congress on June 28 for debate and revision. TJ originally wrote “fellowsubjects,” copying the term from the corresponding passage in the first page of the First Draft of the Virginia Constitution; then, while the ink was still wet on the “Rough draught” he expunged or erased “subjects” and wrote “citizens” over it. The Second Continental Congress received a draft of the Declaration from Jefferson that made the British rejection of the petition submitted by the First Continental Congress to end the slave trade one of the grounds for severing ties. The irony of Jefferson's own ownership of Negro slaves cannot be ignored here, and the record shows that he was well aware of this obvious contradiction. For these reasons, I provide this initial draft here. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE DEBATE OVER SLAVERY When Thomas Jefferson included a passage attacking slavery in his draft of the Declaration of Independence, it initiated the most intense debate among the delegates gathered at Philadelphia in the spring and early summer of 1776. Jefferson’s passage on slavery was the most important section removed from the final document. As a Read a transcript of the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence as authored by Thomas Jefferson before it was edited by the larger Continental Congress. I. First Draft by Jefferson [Before 13 June 1776] Whereas George Guelph King of Great Britain & Ireland and Elector of Hanover, heretofore entrusted with the exercise of the kingly office in this government, hath endeavored to pervert the same into a detestable & insupportable tyranny by < neg > putting his negative on laws the most wholesome & necessary for the public good by denying to his On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress entrusted a committee of five delegates (Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman) with composing the Declaration of Independence. Declaration of Independence (Rough Draft with Final Draft) Declaration of Independence (Official) Jefferson created the original draft of the Declaration of Independence before it was edited by the Continental Congress. Some of the major difference between the original and the final version include: replacing “sacred and undeniable” with “self-evident” and “that from that equal On June 11, 1776, in anticipation of the impending vote for independence from Great Britain, the Continental Congress appointed five men — Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston — to write a declaration that would make clear to people everywhere why this break from Great Britain was both
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