Pros And Cons Of The Declaration Of Independence

One of these such heroes and leaders was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson proved that he was a leader when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. At the time that the document was created, America was on tense relations with Great Britain, and was preparing for all out war. Before they could accomplish this, however, they needed to declare their independence from the tyranny that was the British Empire. Congress in Philadelphia selected five to draft the document in which they would declare their independence- Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert Livingston of New York, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Jefferson was immediately selected to draft the Declaration of Independence, for reasons said by John Adams, “Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a

Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can” (Philipps, 65-68). And so Jefferson, over a period of two weeks, wrote the Declaration of Independence, beginning with the famous words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” Jefferson did not base the document on any previously written work, making it entirely original (Fradin, 56). In general, the Declaration was a statement of grievances specifically targeted at the British king, who Jefferson declared to be “unfit to be the ruler of a free people” (National Archives and Records). After finishing the writing of the document at the apartment he was residing in in Philadelphia, he presented the document to Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, who made minor revisions, but it was finally presented to Congress virtually untouched. In congress, the document was read, and about one-fifth of it was changed, as many were uncomfortable with some parts in the body that concerned slavery. On July 4, the document was finally signed, first by John Hancock of Massachusetts. The rest of the delegates signed the document on August 2 (History.com