Abraham Lincoln himself believed the document represented a “grand consummation” capable of inspiring a “great revolution in public sentiment.” But word for word, it struck many observers as not only less than “grand” and “great,” but remarkably short on sentiment itself. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was engrossed on parchment and on August 2, 1776, delegates began signing it. Jefferson largely wrote the Declaration of Independence in isolation between June 11, 1776, and June 28, 1776, from the second floor of a three-story home he was renting at 700 Market Street in Philadelphia, now called the Declaration House and within walking distance of Independence Hall. [55] When asked, “Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?” the short answer is Thomas Jefferson. At just 33 years old, Jefferson was chosen by the Second Continental Congress to draft the document. Despite his youth, Jefferson had already earned a reputation as a skilled writer and a deep thinker. The Declaration was primarily authored by the 33-year-old Jefferson, who wrote it between 11 June and 28 June 1776 on the second floor of the Philadelphia home he was renting, now known as the Declaration House. Committee Members Author, Author! Many words describe Thomas Jefferson. He is best remembered as the person who wrote the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States. The second Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies assigned five men to author the Declaration of Independence. They were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Thomas Jefferson is considered the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, although Jefferson's draft went through a process of revision by his fellow committee members and the Second Continental Congress. The Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates from the 13 British colonies in North America on 4 July 1776, a date commemorated as Independence Day in the United States. The question of who wrote the Declaration of Independence has a knottier explanation than it might first appear. 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. Drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776 became the defining event in Thomas Jefferson's life. Drawing on documents, such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights, state and local calls for independence, and his own draft of a Virginia constitution, Jefferson wrote a stunning statement of the colonists' right to rebel against the British government and establish their own based on the Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, and edited by luminaries such as Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. We now credit Thomas Jefferson with the Declaration’s authorship, but that was not the case on that momentous day, nor for a significant time afterwards. At the time, the Declaration of Independence was regarded as a collective effort of the Continental Congress; Jefferson was not recognized as its principal author until the 1790s. Which philosopher influenced the authors of the Declaration of Independence? John Locke. an English Philosopher, who believed that the three purposes of Government were life, liberty and property. He believed that common people could have some degree of control over their government. The Two Treatises of Government. The Declaration of Independence is one of the most significant documents in American history. It formally announced the thirteen American colonies’ separation from British rule and laid the foundation for the United States as an independent nation. But who wrote the Declaration of Independence? The primary author of this historic document was Thomas Jefferson, who drafted it in June 1776 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. He described the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as "these fragile objects which bear so great a weight of meaning to our people." The story of the Declaration of Independence as a document can only be a part of the larger history, a history still unfolding, a "weight of meaning" constantly, challenged, strengthened, and redefined. The Jefferson Memorial depicts the Committee of Five on a pediment sculpture by Adolph Alexander Weinman. The Committee of Five of the Second Continental Congress was a group of five members who drafted and presented to the full Congress in Pennsylvania State House what would become the United States Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like draft: To make a preliminary plan. precipitate: To bring on or hasten. self-determination: To decide something by one's own free will., Why did the representatives to the Second Continental Congress decide to write the Declaration of Independence?, Which of the following was a bold new idea expressed in the Declaration of
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