Declaration of
Independence | Thomas Jefferson
Plot
summary
A world-famous document that declares American independence
from England.
Author
and Date
o
The greatest American? Rated with Washington and
Lincoln
o
Major mover in Revolutionary era
o
6’2”, thin, reddish hair, hazel eyes
o
as president, greeted morning visitors in worn
coat and slippers
o
Mass of contradictions continually fascinates
- Elitist
in education who complained about elites
- A
democrat who wanted the ‘right’ people elected
- Never
remarried after death of his wife, Martha, in 1782, but had an affair
with Betsey Walker, the wife of a friend, and Maria Cosway, a 27
year-old, in Paris in 1786, who was married
- See
Marvin Olasky, The American
Leadership Tradition
[New York: The Free Press, 1999], pp. 25-26, for details. Note that
Olasky does make the mistake of endorsing rumors about Jefferson and
Sally Hemings.
- An
extemist in terms of revolution, yet praises Washington’s moderation and
shrinks from violence himself
- Did
not have a sense of humor
- Didn’t
like off-color jokes or bad language
- Always
spoke with a low, quiet voice
- Kept
scrupulous records off everything, but went deeper and deeper into debt
- Had
too many books, which he sold to Congress to pay off debts
o
One of ten children
o
Father was a surveyor
o
Older sister Jane teaches him to read and to
love music
o
Went to William and Mary College at age 16
o
Fluent in Latin and Greek and could ride, hunt,
and dance well
o
Becomes member of Virginia House of Burgesses
o
He is a Virginia Delegate to the Second
Contintental Congress in 1775 at age 33
- One
of youngest delegates
o
Committee is formed in June 1776 to draft a
declaration of Independence
à Truth is that England had been at war with
Colonies for 13 or 14 months, since Lexington and Concord in April 1775 (or
even since Boston Massacre of 1770)
- Includes
John Adams and Ben Franklin, along with two others
- The
others choose Jefferson to write the text
- Jefferson
basically holes up in his residence in Philly and doesn’t come out until
first draft is written – 17 days later!
- Wrote
in armchair pilled up to a dining table
- Goose
quill pen
- Did
most of writing between 6 pm and midnight
o
With exception of tinkering by Franklin and John
Adams, D of I is Jefferson’s work alone
- Not
as much a declaration of independence, but to proclaim to the world the
reasons for Colonies declaring independence
- Colonies
not rebels – they were just standing up for long-established rights that
tyrannical King George III was trying to usurp (note: not rights of
Englishmen, but universal rights of man)
- Americans
needed French support, so Jefferson aims at French hearts and minds and
King Louis XVI
- French
and British were longstanding enemies
o
His great contribution to American political
theory:
- 1.
individual rights
- John Locke
demonstrated that individuals do not exist to serve governments, but
rather that governments exist to protect individuals. The individual,
said Locke, has an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit
of his own happiness. (Second Treatise on Government)
- 2.
popular sovereignty
- Also
from Locke, that people establish governments
- The
committee makes very few changes, Jefferson writes a new draft, and then
it is voted out of committee
- “One charge
that Jefferson had included, but Congress removed, was that the king had
"waged cruel war against human nature" by introducing slavery
and allowing the slave trade into the American colonies. The words
offended delegates from Georgia and South Carolina, who were unwilling to
acknowledge that slavery violated the "most sacred rights of life
and liberty," and the passage was dropped for the sake of unanimity.
Thus was foreshadowed the central debate of the American Civil War…” (Matthew
Spalding, Acton Institute)
- John
Adams, on the floor of Congress, defended the D of I before the delegates
- Still,
the delegates cut one quarter of text, changed about two dozen words, and
made two insertions
- four
references to God in the document left in the document
- On
July 2, Richard Henry Lee’s resolution approving independence was adopted
- Wanted
all colonies to vote for measure
- Deleware:
needed Caesar Rodney to make 2 out of 3
- Messenger
sent back to Deleware to retrieve him (cancer of the face) and bring
him back in time to have Deleware support independence
- Virginia
– 2 of 3 against independence, but abstained from voting
- Passes
12-0 (NY not voting)
- Colonies
were now states of the United States of America
- Adams
wrote that evening of July 2:
This day will be the most memorable in the history of America; to
be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival,
commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God
Almighty, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward
forevermore.
- Only
evening of July 4, all members (except John Dickinson) signs the
Declaration
- Not
called Declaration of Indpendence by Jefferson or Congress – name given
it by the people
- Thomas
Jefferson not identified as author until months later, and names of
signers kept secret – fear of British reprisal
- Signing
the D of I was an act of treason, and if British had won the war, they
would have been convicted of treason and probably hanged
- He
may not have been a Christian, but he did admire Jesus
- Refutation of Sally Hemings
myth
- conclusions:
- “The question of whether Thomas Jefferson
fathered one or more children by his slave Sally Hemings is an issue
about which honorable people can and do disagree. After a careful review
of all of the evidence, the commission agrees unanimously that the
allegation is by no means proven; and we find it regrettable that public
confusion about the 1998 DNA testing and other evidence has misled many
people.”
- “The [DNA] tests merely establish a strong
probability that Sally Hemings’ youngest son, Eston, was fathered by one
of the more than two-dozen Jefferson men in Virginia at the time,
seven of whom there is documentary evidence to believe may well have
been at Monticello when Eston [Hemings] was conceived.”
- “Our inquiry suggests not only that there is no
serious evidence that Sally Hemings was monogamous, but there is very
credible eyewitness testimony that she was often sexually involved with
a man other than Thomas Jefferson…There is reasonably credible evidence
based upon eyewitness testimony that Jefferson’s nephews Samuel and
Peter Carr admitted paternity of at least some of Sally Hemings’
children, and the DNA tests show only that they could not have been
the father of Eston. Even without considering Thomas Jefferson’s
advanced age (sixty-four) and health, if the question is changed from
trying to place a single suspect at Monticello nine months prior the
birth of all of Sally’s children to simply trying to identify the
Jefferson men who were likely to have been in the Monticello area when
Eston Hemings was conceived, the statistical case for Thomas Jefferson’s
paternity of Eston, based upon DNA evidence alone, falls below fifteen
percent.”
- “There are at least ten possible fathers for
Sally Hemings’ children who could have passed down genetic material
that might produce children physically resembling Thomas Jefferson and
who are thought to have visited Monticello regularly during the years
Sally Hemings was having children. Historically, the most common
suspects were Peter and Samuel Carr, sons of Thomas Jefferson’s sister
Martha and his best friend Dabney Carr. Subsequent to the DNA tests,
the most probable candidate for paternity of Eston Hemings was likely
Randolph Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s much younger brother, or perhaps
one of at least four of Randolph’s five sons. A little more than two
weeks before Sally is estimated to have conceived Eston, Thomas
Jefferson wrote to Randolph and informed him that his twin sister, Anna
Scott Marks, had just arrived for a visit and that “we shall be happy to
see you also.” It is reasonable to assume that Randolph, a widower,
would have brought his five sons (four and perhaps five of whom were
17-27 years of age) for the visit, and any of them could have also
passed along Jefferson DNA that would have been consistent with Dr.
Foster’s DNA study and could have produced children resembling Thomas
Jefferson.”
One of members of commission was Jean Yarbrough, Professor of Political
Science at Bowdoin College
Historical background
See notes for Patrick Henry
Themes/Observations
- The notion of “self-evident” truths
- What case does he make for revolution/separation?
- What points does he make in the text?
- What statements in the D of I would appeal to the French?
- How well have we as Americans lived up to the ideals of
the D of I?
- How does Jefferson’s faith (or lack thereof) come through
in the D of I?
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