TWF NASRATT POST, FRF>F,PORT, N. Y., FRin\Y. JT:\F 2R. 131R r^eP 2
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How Famous Declaration Was Adopted
INDRPRNDKNCK day this yenr ' witnesses the nnlqne upcrtsrle of ! the Rtars nnd fltrlpen nnd the flng | of Oreat Britain Intertwined In a j bond of friendship, the United States alllod with her old mf)ther country In fighting the world hnftles of domoc- rncy. Tn thnt momnrnble dnrimicnt which wns proclaimed to the Inhnbi- tantn of the origlnni thlrtorn colonies ! 142 yenrs ngo is a senfonce which j seems fitting now ns nn Indictment of the Rnropenn monarch ngnlnst whom America is at wnr. It Is this:
Our r«p«>ftted petitions have t)een an- ' Swered onljr by repeated Injury. j
And then follows this severe arrnlgn- i
ment of Oeorge ITI, the Inst of the Eng- I
lish kings who maintained the divine i right of rule:
A prlnre whose character la thus mark¬ ed by every act which may define a ty¬ rant ts unfit to b« the ruler of a free people.
Prior to the Revolutionary struggle the sentiment In all tho colonies for ten years and more from the time of the flrst Stamp Act troubles was strongly against a severance of rela¬ tions with the parent country. Paul Revere's ride and the battles of Lexing¬ ton and Concord in April, ITT.*), memo¬ rable as those events are as the fore¬ runners of the great conflict, failed to arouse any widespread enthnslnsm for independence. It is even slgnlflrant to note that Jnst a year before the Dec- Inrntlon of Independence wns unani¬ mously approved by all of the thirteen colonies the Continental congress thnt had appointed Washington comman¬ der In chief of the nrmy, drew up, .Tuly 6, 177.'), 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 so happily eub- elsted between us and which we sincere¬ ly wish to gee restored.
Even Thomas Jefferson, tho author of the Declaration of Independonco, two months after the hattie of Bnnkor Hill wrote that he wns "looking with fondness toward a reconciliation with Great Britain."
A few far-sighted leaders like Ben¬ jamin Franklin, Samuel nnd John Adams nnd Patrick Henry had felt at a comparatively early date that a break was inevitable.
The historic declaration of the citi¬ zens of Mecklenburg county. North Carolina, in May, 177,5, wns on^ of hov- eral local events indlcatl'.h thnt public opinion was tending toward independ¬ ence, but not until the appearance of Thomas Paine's stirring pamphlet, "Common Sense," early in .Tanunry, 1776, was there any npproclahle public sentiment in its favor. In tho plain language of the day It pro.'^ented the facts so simply that all could under¬ stand. ThI.s "phenomenon," as John Adams styled I'nino, suddenly found himself transformed from oh.scurlty to fame. The I'ennsylvtinlii legislature voted him $2,,')00, and a Southern legls-
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Draft of the First Worda of tha Declaration of Independence, In Thomat Jef. ferson's Handwriting, Which Establlshad Democracy In America.
Thomas Jefferson.
lutor sugKestod that a stiiliu' of I'lilno la gold would not be too liijih an honor. Richard Henry Lee's Resolution.
Tilings iuovimI rapidly in the cobiiiies uftt'r that, and Ui<lmrd Henry Lee of Virginia rose in the Coiitiiu-iital con¬ gress at riilludflplilu, June 7, 1770, nnd pr»'.sented his famous re.s(iluti«nis which led to the Declaratliiu of IiitU'iieinloiice. The resolutions, in Leo's liaiidwrlting, and now one of the treasuri'd papers in the library of congress, were:
Itesolved, That these United Colonies ar« and of right ouKht to be free and Independent etatea: that they ure ab- ¦olved from all allesittnoe to the British crown, and that ull political lonnection between them and the state of Qreat Britain la and out(ht to t>e totally dla- ¦olved;
That It Is expedient forthwith to take the moat fiftectual measurea for (orm- Ina forelsn alllancea;
That a plan of confederation be pre¬ pared and transmitted tn the respective colonies for their consideration aud ap¬ probation.
Here, tn fact, waa the Declaration of \ Independeuce in a uutsheli. proiMised by one of the most eminent men of the most iuHuentiai colony at 'tliat time aud promptly secouded by John Adams of Mas»>achusettH. It was deem- eA wise to or«l«r tbe secretary to omit their uuuitui fruui lUe Jouruul. The next
4lajr coacrsas w«»t Into a c<Huuatt«t of ;
the whole to discuss the resolutions. The delegates from Pennsylvania, New Torlt and one or two other colonies ob¬ jected on the ground that the middle colonies were not yet ready for so radi¬ cal a step, el though personally express¬ ing a friendly attlttide. Delegates Hesltatsd.
Unanimous action hy all the colonies on 80 momentous a question was re¬ garded by congress as of paramount hnportance. Some of the delegates had not been Instructed to go bo far ns vot¬ ing for Independence, New York and New Jersey being among them. The majority hnd been nutborlzed to tnke nny notion that might be deemed wise, Virglnin having gone so far as nctunl¬ ly to Instruct her dologntes to propose il declaration of lndoppn^lenc^ fo con¬ gress, nnd Richard Henry Lee wns simply obeying the legislative voice of his colony when he presented his reso¬ lutions.
June 10 congress postponed final consldorntion for throe weeks, and on the following day npiiolnt<'d a commit¬ tee of five to tlraw up the declaration. Richard Henry Lee, as tbe proposer of the plan, would surely have been on the committee and, possibly. Its chairman, hnd he not in tho meantime been hur¬ riedly summoned home by the Illness of his wife. But for that Lee might have been the author of the declnra- tlon Instead of his younger Virginia colleague, Thomas Jefferson, then but thirty-three years old.
Jefferson had brought to congres.s the reputation for wielding a facile pen, and In tho balloting for the com¬ mittee he received a majority of votes Imd became its chairman. The other.s were John Adams of Mnssachusetts, Renjaraln Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut and Robert II. Livingston of New York. Honor Given Jefferson. •
How did .TefTorson come to ho se¬ lected to write the Declaration, "the one American state paper, as haa been .•^iild, that hns reached to supreme dis¬ tinction in the world nnd that seems, lilcoly to last ns long ns American civi¬ lization lasts"?
The most interesting account Is giv¬ en by John Adams, who says thnt he and Thomas .Tefforson wore desli.'n.ate(l li.v the committee to propnre the rouch minutes In a proper form. Mr. Jeffer¬ son first pr(ipf)S('(l tliiit Adiiins preimrc tbe dnift of the Declaration. Adimis declined, giving, ns lie says in his au- tobiogriipliy, the following reasons:
(1) That he waa a Vlrplnian and I a Ma."iaa<'husetten.sl<Tn. (2) That he waa a Southirn man -anil I a Northern one. CO That I had boon so obnoxinus for my early and constant zeal In promoting the menaurc that every draft of mine would tinderpo a more severe sirutlny and criti¬ cism In conKrt-ss tliaii oni' of hla composl- tl(in. (4) And hiptlv, and that would he rca- Sdii enoiiRh if tliiTo wore no nther, I had a nre;it opinion of llio rlcK.inco of his pen and none at all of my own. 1 tlioirforo insisted that no liosltatif)n should he made on his part. He uccordintrly toolt tlu> miniitoa and In a day or two produced to me Ilia draft.
As Jefferson Wrote It.
JclTer.son suys that tlie entire crm- niltteo urged him to iiiuUe the dnift. He sbdwed it tlrsf to Franklin and ,\(l!iins "because they wore the two inemhers of wlii.st> Judtrtiients! nnd ;\nii'ri(liueiits I wi.'^licd iikinI to hnve the lieiicfit." The.v iimdc a U^w minor al- feriitioiis in their liiiiKhvfitiiiK. This <>rlg!iiul dnift was iiiveii liy JclTeiNoii to Rlehiird TTenry Lee, the denn of tlie Virginia (lelcuntion. and In 1S'J."> Ills f;riiiidsi)ii ])re.^ontc(l it to the Aiiier- le:iii I'lillo.sophlcal society of rhlliulel- pliiii.
.liffer.son, having iniide iinother copy, witil the changes suggested, presented it to the coininlttee, whlcli reported it unaltered to <'(iiii.'ress. July 1 I'lillii- (lelplila was on Ihe (pil vlve of expecta¬ tion, and conteiiipiirnry accounts Imve left us a stirring picture of tho onger- ness with which tho citizens awaited <ieftnlte news of the most important act which the ccdonists hnd be«'n called upon to decide In the long chain of disputes with the mother conntry. Ou the following day, when the formal vote of congress was taken, the reso¬ lutions were api^foved by twelve col¬ onies—all except New York. The orig¬ inal colonies, therefore, became the United States of America on July 2, 1776. The next two days were sfieut in discussing the draft of the Declara¬ tion as drawn by Jefferson. The debate was animated, but when it was all over the draft was adoi'ted with sur¬ prisingly few changes, a tribute to the ability with which the author bad ex> pres.sed to (lie world the cuuses which had made it necessary for "oue people to dissolve the political bauds wtilcb have cuuuected them with aautber." Unanimously Adopted.
The Dei'lura'ioa of ludepeudenoe was then uuunluiuusly adopted l>y the twelve colonies, whose delej^atwi wera
Instructed to vote In its favor, on July 4, which thenceforth became the recog¬ nized birthday of the new nation.
The old bell ringer of Philadelphia, who had been patiently waiting for the new* in the steeple of the historic Rtatehonse, was the first to peal ont the message of American independence on tbe bell ever since honored as the Liberty Bell. No longer was there any doubt that public opinion wns ready for the step, for, as the news spread, it was everywhere received with ex¬ ultation.
Word en me to Oeorge Wa.shlngton July 9, at his hondqnarters In New^ York, that the Doclnratlon was ratified, and It was- nt once read to the sol¬ diers and citizens. On the snme day the Now York nssombly, in session at White Plnins, gave Its forninl vote for Independence, nnd the thirteen colonies were then united In their common cause.
John Hancock, president of the con¬ gress, was the only member wh« signed the declarntlon on July 4. An engros.s- ed copy ori parchment was ordered for all the delegates to sign. This was completed August 2 and .signed by 54
delegates. Two others signed later, Thomas McKean of Delaware, who wns abHo^lt with his re^iinent In August, and Matthew Tliornton of New Hamp¬ shire, who was not elected to congress until the fall, but was permitted to sign tho document In November, mak¬ ing the total number of the famous "signers'" 56.
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Of Mil the signers, Jefferson and Adams bear a deepi'r personnl rolntlon to the derlnrntlon than nny others. Adams wss Its most vigorous supporter in congress nnd JefTerson benrs testi¬ mony fo his vnlnnhle sld. Tn after yenrs both received the hlRhPSt honors thnt the clflrefis could bestow. They were permitted fo witness the growth of fhoir conntry for half a century from the flrst Independence dny. T^e day of their denfh, .Ttily 4, lR2fl, wba tho fiftieth nnnlvfrsnry of th(» momor- fthle Fourth of July. Tt wns the most romnrknble coincidence ever recorded In Amorlcnn history. .Teffpr.snn wn.s olghty-three yenrs old and John Adams ninety-one years.
The .Vl signers were distributed among the 1.^ stntes In the following proportion : Pennsylvnnln. 9; Virginia, 7; Ma.«i8achusett8, 6; New Jersey, .5; Connecticut 4; Maryland, 4; New York, 4; South Carolina, 4; New Ilnmpshire, 3; Delnware, .1; Ooorgia, .1; North rarolinn, .1; Rhode I.slnnd, 2. JelTenson's drnft of the doclnratlon presented to congress and the signed copy on parchment are In the depnrt- ment of state at Wn.shlngton, fho lat¬ ter having been replaced for public ex¬ hibition several years ago by a fac¬ simile. '
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