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Show HERALDS OF FREEDOM -i t N THE Jefferson family I burying ground at Monti-cello, Monti-cello, Va., stands a 6tono a upon which Is engraved: mm "Here lies burled Thomas & Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independ-0$ Independ-0$ ence, of the Statute of Vir--JTS, glnln for Religious Freeze Free-ze dora, and Father of the I 9 University of Virginia." No American would think of disputing dis-puting any of those statements, for the part which Jefferson played in writing the immortal document whose anniversary we celebrate on July 4 is too well known to cast any doubt on his right to call himself the "author" of It Of course, he had the aid of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams In preparing that statement of the wrongs which the American colonies had suffered at the hands of their king and of their determination to be "free and independent inde-pendent states." Jefferson's handwritten hand-written drnft of the Declaration of Independence, which Is preserved In the Library of Congress, shows a number of phrases marked out and new ones written In with notations on the mnrgin: "Doctor Frnnklln's handwriting-' or "Mr. Adams' handwriting." hand-writing." Not only was Thomas Jefferson the "author" of the Declaration of Independence In the fact of writing it, but he was also the "author" In the spirit In which it was conceived. When Richard Henry Lee of Vlr- glnla on June 7, 177C, Introduced In the Continental congress his resolu- AUTOGRAPHS OF THE MECKLENBURG COMMITTEE April Inst, and the dread of insurrections insur-rections . . . are causes sufficient to drive an oppressed people to arms. We, inhabitants of South Carolina . . thoroughly convinced that under un-der our present distressed circumstances circum-stances we shall be Justified before God and man in resisting force by force, do . . . associate as a band In her defense against every foe; hereby solemnly engaging that whenever our continental or provincial provin-cial councils shall deem it necessary, neces-sary, we will go forth nnd be ready to sacrifice our lives and fortunes to secure her freedom and safety." In December, 1775, the English parliament passed the Prohibitory Act which forbade all nations to trade with America, and made vessels ves-sels so trading lawful prizes of war. "It makes us independent In spite of our supplications and entreaties," exclaimed John Adams. In a land ripe for separation from the mother country were now sown seeds which would soon germinate into a widespread wide-spread demand for independence. Those seeds were the burning words of Thomas Paine, the "Firebrand of the Revolution." On January 10, 177C, ras published pub-lished I1I3 "Common Sense." Within a few weeks 100,000 copies had been sold. It became the Bible of the Revolution, found In the hand of every patriot. It called for nhsolute Independence without fear and without with-out apologies. Casting off the language lan-guage of loyalty nnd humility which the colonists had used In framing their petitions to the king and tlon declaring that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and Independent states," he soon found that other delegates were not yet ready to go so far as to sever the bonds of the colonies with the Mother Country. So his resolution was referred the next day to the congress, sitting ns a committee of the whole, where It was vigorously debated. Lee, Samuel Sam-uel Adams, John Adams and espe- brushlng aside the lawyer's pleas for chartered rights of Englishmen, Paine boldly challenged not only the king and his ministers, but the British constitution and the policies of the British government. "It Is repugnant to reason, to the Inward order of things, to suppose sup-pose that this continent can longer long-er remain subject to any external exter-nal power. The utmost stretch of human wisdom cannot at this time compass a plan short of separation!" separa-tion!" he declared In his ringing plea for Independence. From that time events moved to a swift climax. On May 5, 177G. a provincial convention met In Virginia Vir-ginia to frame a new constitution. On May 15 resolutions were adopted asking congress to declare separation separa-tion from Great Britain. These reso- JIL 111 In the character of a "Committeeman," "Committee-man," to Issue processes, hear and determine de-termine all matters of controversy, according to said adopted laws, and to presorve peace, union and harmony har-mony In said county; nnd to use every exertion to spread the love of country and fire of freedom throughout America, until a more general and organized government be established In the Province. It has often been pointed out that this declaration contains many of the ideas and some of the very phrases and forms of expression afterwards aft-erwards used by Jefferson In the document which was adopted by the Continental congress a year later. (Those phrases are printed in blackface black-face type In the quotation above.) An explanation for that fact may be found in the statement of John Spencer Bnssett one of the few recent re-cent historians who mentions the Mecklenburg Declaration. In his "Short History of the United States," he says: "A copy of these resolutions was sent to England, where it Is preserved, and they were also printed In a Charleston newspaper. newspa-per. The original was destroyed by fire, and being rewritten from memory mem-ory survived In a form resembling the national Declaration of Independence. Independ-ence. Many people have taken this paper, whoso date, May 20, Is supposed sup-posed to be accounted for by the difference between new nnd old chronology, for the resolutions actually ac-tually passed on May 31. This 'Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence' Inde-pendence' is not supported by reliable relia-ble contemporary evidence, and Is now rejected by the best historians." histo-rians." In contrast to this, however, Is this statement in Justin Windsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America": onies and thnt magic word "Independence" "Inde-pendence" was being spoken and written. Perhaps the honor of being the first to utter it belongs to the citizens citi-zens of Sheffield. Mass., who as enriy as January 12, 1773, proclaimed the grievances and rights of the colonies, col-onies, among them the right of self-government self-government The citizens of Men-don, Men-don, In the same colony and In the same yenr, also passed resolutions containing three fundamental propositions prop-ositions of the Declaration of Independence Inde-pendence Itself: that all men have an equal right to life and liberty, that this right is inalienable, and thnt government must originate In the free consent of the people. John Adams had been outspoken in his advocacy of Independence for more than a year before Lee Introduced Intro-duced his resolution in congress and he had avowed it In letters, which the British intercepted In July, 1775, and printed In a Boston newspaper. Ilowever, If we accept a tradition which seems to have considerable basis of fact then the first real Declaration Dec-laration of Independence was adopted adopt-ed In Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, on May 31, 1775. According Accord-ing to this story, news of the battles bat-tles of Concord and Lexington reached this county while the militia companies were met for their regular regu-lar muster. Thereupon the Mecklenburg Mecklen-burg patriots, most of them Scotch-Irish Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, passed these resolutions: Resolved, That whosoever directly or Indirectly abettrd, or In any way, form, or manner countenanced, the unchartered and dangerous Invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, Is an enemy to this country, to America, and to the Inherent and Innllennble rlcktn of Man. Resolved that we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby dissolve dis-solve the political bands which have connected us to the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all nllcKlnnee to the Itrltlxh Crown, nnd nlijure all political connection, contract, or association with that Nation, Na-tion, who have wantonly trampled '''A '''J yl'' v' y il GEORGE MASON dally Jefferson, all of whom were regarded as the "radicals" of the congress, urged its adoption. But the "moderates," led hy John Dickinson Dick-inson o' Pennsvlvnn'fl, !'- '"'I the congress to postpone action for a little wuile. lioncviT. Ihtr ia,m..ii.s did prevail upon the congress to ai-polnt ai-polnt a committee to draft a declaration declara-tion of Independence, "lest any time be lost in case the congress agree to the resolution." Four of this committee Jefferson, Franklin, John Adams nnd Roger Sherman were "radicals" and the "moderates" were represented on it by only one man, Robert Livingston of New York. Earlv In Mmlr rlpi'h-erntions rlpi'h-erntions the committee assigned to Jefferson the task 01 preparing Hie draft of the document Thus it was that he became the "author" of the charter of American liberties. As such, the great Virginian is entitled to all the honor that has been paid him. But it does not detract de-tract from his fame to pay tribute to some of the other heralds of freedom free-dom whose work was a necessary preliminary to his. For that reason, rea-son, Americans should be more familiar fa-miliar than most of them are with the names of four Englishmen John Locke (1C12-170-1), Algernon Sidney (1022 83), James Harrington Harring-ton (1011-77) and Thomas Paine (1737-1S00) whose political philosophy philos-ophy was embodied In the Declaration Declara-tion of Independence. THOMAS PAINE lutlons were drafted by Edmund Pendleton, a member of the committee commit-tee of correspondence In 1773 and of the First Continental congress nnd president of the Virginia Committee Com-mittee of Safety. Two days previously pre-viously the convention had Indorsed a Declaration of Rights which Had been prepared by George Masou, who had also been a member of the Committee of Safety. Composed of 1G articles, the resemblance re-semblance of the great document of July 4 drafted by Jefferson to Mason's Ma-son's work Is a striking one. On June 29 Virginia adopted the first written constitution of a free and Independent state In America. But even before that time significant signifi-cant events were taking place In Philadelphia where the Second Continental Con-tinental congress was In session. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, Vir-ginia, obeying the mandate given him by the Virginia convention in the resolutions passed on May 15, offered In congress this resolution: "Resolved, That these United Colonies Col-onies are. and of right ought to be, free and independent stales, that they are absolved from all allegiance alle-giance to the British Crown, and that nil political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." dis-solved." The philosophies of Locke and Sidney and Harrington were bearing bear-ing their fruit The words of Puine and Pendleton and Mason were about to flower Into a document which Thomas Jefferson was to pen. It would begin : "Wherein the course of human events, It becomes necessary neces-sary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected connect-ed them with another," etc. And it would end with these ringing words: . solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Rlgbt ought to be Free and Independent Inde-pendent States . . . And for the support of this Declaration, with a Arm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutuilly pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, nnd our sncred Honor." C Wtro NPPr Union. It has boon strenuously claimed and denied that, at a meeting of the people of Mecklenburg county In North Cnrollna, on May 20, 1775. resolutions res-olutions were passed declaring their Independence of Great Britain. The facts In the case appear to be these: On the- 31st of May, 1775. the pnoplo of this county did pass resolutions quite abreast of the public nentl-ment nentl-ment of that time, but not venturing on the Held of Independency further than to say that those resolutions were to remain In force till Great Prltaln resigned Its pretentions. These resolutions were well written, writ-ten, attracted notice, and were cop-led cop-led In the leading newspapers of the colonics. North and South, and Can be found In various later works. A copy of the South Carolina Gazette Ga-zette containing them was sent by Governor Wright of Georgia to I.or-1 Dartmouth and was found by P.an-croft P.an-croft In the State Paper Office, while In the Sparks manuscript Is the record of a copy sent to the home government by Governor Martin Mar-tin of North Carolina with a letter dated June 30, 1776. Of these reso-tlons reso-tlons there la no doubt. In 1793 or earlier, some of the actors tn the proceeding, apparently apparent-ly Ignorant that the record of these resolutions had been preserved In the newspapers, endeavored to supply sup-ply them from memory, unconsciously unconscious-ly Intermingling some of the phraseology phrase-ology of the Declaration of July 4th In congress, which gave them the tone of a pronounced Independency. Probably through another dimness of memory they affixed the date of May 20, 1775, to them. These were first printed In the Raleigh Keglster on April 30, 1819. They are found to resemble In somo respects the now known resolves of May 31st, as well as the national Declaration of Independence. In 1829 Martin printed print-ed them, much altered. In his "North Caraollna," but It la not known where Ills copy came from. In 1S31 the state printed the text of the 1819 copy, and fortified It with recollections rec-ollections and certificates of persons affirming that they were prc.-ient when the resolutions were passed op the 20th. But If there Is doubt ns to the authenticity of this purported action by the North Cnrollna patriots, there is no doubt of subsequent actions elsewhere in which the keynote was "freedom"or"lndependence."On June 3 the provincial congress of South Carolina adopted this "association": "The actual commencement of hostilities hos-tilities against this continent by the British troops, on the 19th of " EDMUND PENDLETON upon our rights and liberties, and Inhumanly shed the blood of American Amer-ican patriots at Lexington. Kesolvcd, That we do hereby declare de-clare oarnclvn n free ond Independent Independ-ent people; are, ond of right ooght to be, a aoverrlgn nnd eir-Kovernlng iiNsorliitliin, under control of no power other than that of our God. and the general Government of the Congress; to tbe mulntennnce of whU'ti IndrprndeDce we solemnly pledge to rncli other oar mutual ro-operntlon. ro-operntlon. our liven, our fortunes nnd our most nncrcd honor. Resolved. That as we now acknowledge ac-knowledge the existence and control of no law or legal ofllcers, civil or military, within this country, we 6o hereby ordain and adopt as a rule of life all, each, and every of our former laws; wherein, nevertheless the Crown of Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights privileges. Immunities or authorities therein. Kesolved, That It Is further do-crcod do-crcod that all, each, and every military mili-tary officer on this county Is hereby reinstated In bis former command and authority, he acting conformably conform-ably to these regulations; and that every member present of this delegation dele-gation shall henceforth be a civil olllcer, viz.: a Justice of the Peace Of that document, Jefferson later said: "Neither aiming nt originality original-ity of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular or previous writings, it 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." So even though 'he did not "copy from nnv particular particu-lar or previous writings," his familiarity famil-iarity with Harrington's "Oceana" !(1C50), Locke's "Two Treatises on Government" (1CS0), Sidney's "Discourses "Dis-courses Concerning Government" 1 (1608) and Palne's "Common Sense" 1 (1770) undoubtedly was reflected either in his writing. Americans should be more familiar famil-iar also with the names of two other Virginians, Edmund Pendleton and Ceorge Mason, "authors" of a docu-'ment docu-'ment which was a direct ancestor of the Jefferson masterpiece. In fact ,fully two years before he drafted Is declaration the Idoa of fteparn-(tlon fteparn-(tlon from the Mother Country had .been gaining strength in the col |