Show IN CONGRESS JULY 4 e of fo tf w a A A fajt AA a wf ta 1 aft w an Y ft var t V vr f yf ate so W fjug fJ UJ t w y aw ww tf y ay rf a jy t aty C dij 6 iJ M 4 awl sa az aw y y W wa 0 L leak y atar ar ft ats 32 sl TS ifa f A e r y tf ia iVy rf CZ A 4 lt e ant awl wan 2 siaw 6 A ta asay arv ta a baw A cumi nefa woma wiam Zar conf oe fro wt a m 1 any tault iw awa afy y f ats at y Z tc oyt M fam mm COM u 4 iua w lack lf cK peau 1 v ft t aku ank and ittel m f jf J f A K afy ay law aca y an fn aa lj eumilta eu ViLta olaf ft t 6 i t n f nit ea ry yi f uen imn 6 ju u anal ay y tt a asit M wi wt as afu ofu tt aum ium t wi SaSs ww 0 M arti c i tW J nna r r s 3 jet ay ji fo t fe t y ew ay iy n j i fy yf rt t Q f S fia u i wt yc v J gaar y 0 know the story of the declara alon of independence do you know who drafted it who signed it and when here the original document la today this immortal document a facsimile of which Is reproduced above will be years old this month today th stars and stripes and the flag of great britain are intertwined in a bond of friend ehla let us go back and review the situation a century and a halt ago prior to the revolutionary struggle the gentl ment in the colonies tor more than ten years from the time of the original stamp act troubles was opposed to severance of relations with great britain een such memorable events as paul riveres Rc veres ride and the battle of lexington and concord in april 1775 had failed to arouse any widespread determination for independence in july the same continental congress which had appointed washington commander in chief ut the army drew up a declaration of the causes for taking up arms in which it was said we mean not to dissolve that union which has so long and BO happily subsisted between us and which we sincerely wish to see restored thomas jefferson the author of the declara alon of independence himself wrote two months after the battle of bunker hill that he was looking with fondness toward a reconciliation with great britain historians point out that the colonists were the conservatives and george III and the english parliament were the radicals in starting the american revolution such men as benjamin samuel and john adams and patrick henry had felt for a long time that a break was inevitable the declaration of the citizens 0 county N 0 was one of the local events indicating the trend of public opinion toward independence not until the appearance of thomas balnes stirring pamphlet common sense however early in january 1776 was there any appreciable public sentiment in its favor this pamphlet despite its faulty logic explained the situation to the people as none of the more eminent political writers had done it constitutional technicalities and in the plain language of the day presented the facts eo that all could understand balne suddenly found himself transformed from obscurity to fame the pennsylvania fa legislature voted him 2500 and a southern legislator sug posted that a statue to balne in gold would not be too high an honor things began now to move rapidly in the colonies six months after the appearance of balnes Pal nes pamphlet richard henry lee of clr glela rose in the continental congress at philadelphia on june 7 1770 and presented his famous which quickly led to the dec lar atlon of independence these resolutions in lees handwriting and now one of the treasured papers on the library of congress were resolved that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent beatea that they are absolved from all to the british crown and that all political connection between them and the detate of great britain Is and ought to be totally dissolved that it la expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures tor forming foreign alliances that a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective colonies tor their consideration and approbation nere was a pure declaration of independence proposed by one of the most eminent men of the most influential colonies at that time and promptly seconded by john adams of massachi hn betts the next day congress went into a committee of the whole to consider the resolutions delegates from pennsylvania isea york and one or two other colonies objected on the ground that the middle colonies were not let ready for so radical a step although personally expressing a friendly attitude congress realized that unanimous action by all the colonies on a question of such moment was of supreme importance several delegates had not been instructed to go eo far as voting for independence ew york and isca jersey being among them the majority had been authorized to take any action that might be virginia on the other hand had gone so far as actually to instruct her delegates to propose n declaration to congress richard henry lee was obeying his legislature when he presented his resolutions on june 10 congress postponed final conald oration for three weeks and on the following day appointed a committee of five to draw up a declaration lee surely would have been on this committee had he not in the meantime been called home at the illness of his wife but for that the V might have been the author of the declaration of independence instead of his younger colleague thomas jefferson then but thirty three years old coming to congress with a reputation of ing a facile pen jefferson in the balloting for the committee received a majority of votes and be camp its chairman the others were franklin of john adama of chusett roger of connecticut and robert R of ew york stories differ as to how jefferson came to b selected to write the one american state paper as has been eald that has readied to the supreme distinction in the world and that seems likely to last as long as american civilization endures one account is given by john adams who said that he and jefferson were appointed by the committee to prepare the rough minutes in a proper form when jefferson first proposed that adams prepare the draft of the declaration adams declined ghang as tie edya in his autobiography the following ns 1 I that he was a virginian and I 1 a massa 2 that he was a southern man and I 1 was a northern one 3 that I 1 had been sc obnoxious for my early and constant zeal in promoting the measure that every draft of mine would undergo a more severe scrutiny and cratl cism in congress than of his composition 4 and lastly and that would be reason enough if there were no other I 1 had n great opinion of the elegance of his pen and none at all of my own I 1 therefore insisted that no hesitation should be made on his part he accordingly took the minutes and in a day or two produced to me his draft jefferson writing in 1823 tells a slightly different story ne says that the entire committee urged him to make the draft he showed it first to franklin and adams who in their handwriting made a few minor alterations this original draft was given by jefferson to richard lee the dean of the virginia delegation and in 1825 his grandson presented it to the american philosophical society of philadelphia making another copy which incorporated the suggested changes jefferson presented it to the committee which reported it unchanged to the congress on july 1 philadelphia buzzed with excitement tor here was to be taken the most important step in a long series of disputes with the mother country the original resolutions of richard henry lee came before the body as a committee of the whole they were approved by a two thirds vote delaware pennsylvania and south carolina being on the negative side the new lork delegate having received no instructions were unable to vote when the formal vote of congress was the next day the resolutions were approved by twelve colonies all except rew york thus on july 2 1770 the original colonies became the united states of ameika the next two days were spent in discussing the draft of the declaration as drawn by jeffer eon the debate was lively but when it was over the draft was adopted with very few changes of the twenty eight specific charges brought against george III only one was delete that was the one accusing the king of warfare in permitting the capture and enslavement of human beings this was not a just charge for the slave trade had been carried on long before the reign of george III one other paragraph near the close was omitted besides these barely twenty lines were stricken out and not a single addition of tact was made the declaration of independence was then unanimously adopted by the twelve colonies whose delegates were instructed to vote in ilg favor on july 4 1770 which became the recognized birthday of the new nation on july 0 word arrived at the headquarters of george washington in new york that the declaration had been ratified and it was at once read to the soldiers and citizens on the same day the new york assembly in session at white plains gave its formal vote for independence and for the first time the thirteen colonies were united in their common cause john II aDCOck president of tho on greag waft the only member who signed the declaration on july 4 an engrossed copy on parchment was or dered for all the delegates to sign this was completed on august 2 and signed by 84 delegates two others signed inter thomas mckean of delaware who was absent with his regiment in aguot and matthew thornton of new hampshire who was not electea to congress until the autumn lie was permitted to sign the document in no vember making the total number of th famous signers 60 |