Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is the document with which the original American thirteen colonies announced their separation from Great Britain in July 1776. Written primarily by American statesman and future president Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826; served 1801–9), it is one of the most famous documents in American history.

Debating the split

By 1775, American colonists were growing discontent with English rule. Spurred by high taxes and restrictions on trade, talk of independence spread through the colonies. One by one, colonial assemblies authorized their delegates to attend a meeting planned in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , called the Continental Congress .

On June 7, 1776, American statesman Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794) of Virginia introduced a resolution for declaring the independence of the colonies. It called for Congress to take measures to build foreign support for independence and to form a unifying confederation of states.

Debate on declaring independence began in Congress the next day. Those who supported the resolution argued that independence was necessary and would produce many benefits for the colonists. Independence would improve the chance for making treaties of commerce with other nations and for receiving foreign loans. It would rally the colonists together for the military campaign against Great Britain.

Those who opposed independence were in the minority, but they were vocal in their opposition. They warned against declaring independence before the colonies could act with unanimity. Some wished to fix relations with Great Britain.

The delegates were not ready to agree on a course of action, so voting on the resolution was postponed until early July. Congress, however, formed several committees for beginning work immediately on the Virginia proposals of declaring independence, making foreign alliances, and establishing a confederation of states to act as a common government.

Writing the Declaration of Independence

Congress appointed Continental Congress members John Adams (1735–1826), Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), Roger Sherman (1721–1793), Robert Livingston (1746–1813), and Thomas Jefferson to the committee on independence. Their task was to write a document to explain the action of declaring independence in terms meaningful to Americans and Europeans alike. Jefferson, who was just thirty-three years old at the time, received the assignment of writing the first draft of the document.

Jefferson had two main goals as he wrote the Declaration of Independence. He first had to dispel the notion that in claiming their independence, the colonies would be rebelling against a lawful authority. This was an important point to make in order to gain foreign support for the American cause.

Jefferson accomplished this task by using the doctrine of natural rights. Natural rights are rights that people have organically instead of receiving them from a government. Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal” and have rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. People establish governments to protect these rights. When a government stops protecting rights and instead acts to destroy them, people have a right to end its rule. They have the right to create a new government to protect their safety and happiness. According to Jefferson, because the British government was not protecting the American colonists’ natural rights, the colonists were justified in their desire to leave Great Britain to form their own government.

Jefferson's second goal was to convince Americans who were loyal to the English king that independence was necessary. Americans had been arguing for years that the English Parliament, not the king, was the source of their political problems. Parliament was the one taxing the colonies and regulating their commerce. Congress had to shift America's focus to the king as the source of its troubles, as some Americans still hoped to create a system that could remain under the British crown.

Jefferson accomplished this by including a list of charges against the king in the second half of the Declaration of Independence. The charges touched every part of the American colonies. Few free citizens could read the list without feeling that somewhere along the line they had been injured by the king.

Having proved his case against the king, at the end of the Declaration Jefferson briefly criticized the English people who had not supported the American colonies. Then in conclusion, Jefferson crafted a formal announcement that the colonies had decided to sever their ties with Great Britain. Jefferson presented his draft to the committee on independence, which made a few changes before submitting it to the Continental Congress on June 28, 1776.

Final declaration

Congress assembled again on July 1, prepared now to vote on the resolution for independence. An unofficial vote showed that nine colonies would definitely support independence. The other four were opposed, split, or forced to abstain for lack of instructions from their home government. In hopes that a unanimous vote could be earned overnight, Congress delayed the formal vote to July 2. The delay worked, and by a vote of 12-0 (with New York abstaining until later), Congress resolved on July 2 to declare independence.

Congress then turned to editing Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence. In spite of some forty additions and extensive cuts that greatly reduced the paper, Jefferson's draft remained mostly intact. On the evening of July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved and sent to the printer. When New York finally voted for independence, Congress gathered again to sign the official document at a ceremony on August 2.

The Declaration of Independence has been a significant source of political inspiration, both in the United States and around the world. Americans celebrate Independence Day each year on July 4, the day the document was sent to the printer. Americans of all political beliefs find power in the symbolic and literal meanings of the words Jefferson wrote about the rights of citizens and the role of government in society.