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—— ON THIS DAY ——
JULY 4, 1776
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
249 years ago
The Declaration of Independence, adopted July 4, 1776 — the document by which the thirteen American colonies declared themselves free and independent states, drafted principally by Thomas Jefferson.
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, formally adopted the Declaration of Independence — the document announcing that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as free and independent states, no longer subject to British rule. The vote for independence had actually been taken two days earlier, on July 2; July 4 was the day the wording of the formal Declaration was approved. John Adams predicted that July 2 would be celebrated forever; he was off by two days.
The Declaration was principally drafted by Thomas Jefferson, then thirty-three, over about two weeks in June 1776, with edits from Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and the Congress as a whole. Its most famous passage — 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness' — became the foundational statement of American political philosophy and one of the most influential sentences ever written.
—— MARQUEE EVENT ——
Thomas Jefferson — the principal drafter of the Declaration, then thirty-three years old, who would later serve as Secretary of State, Vice President, and the third President of the United States.
The bulk of the Declaration was not philosophy but a detailed bill of particulars against King George III — a list of twenty-seven specific grievances justifying the break. This was a legal and political document designed to persuade: to win over wavering colonists, to justify the revolution to the world, and to make the case for foreign assistance (particularly from France, which would prove decisive). The soaring language of the preamble has endured; the grievances that made up most of the text are largely forgotten.
The signers were committing treason. Had the Revolution failed, they could have been hanged. The fifty-six men who signed pledged 'our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor' — and the pledge was not rhetorical. Several lost their homes and fortunes during the war; some were captured; some died impoverished. The phrase was a genuine acknowledgment of the personal risk involved in defying the British Crown.
The Declaration's assertion that 'all men are created equal' coexisted with the reality that many signers, including Jefferson, enslaved human beings. This contradiction has been at the center of American history ever since. Jefferson's original draft had included a passage condemning the slave trade, which was struck out at the insistence of delegates from South Carolina and Georgia. The gap between the Declaration's universal language and the nation's practice of slavery would not begin to be closed until the Civil War, and the work of fulfilling the promise of equality has continued through every generation since.
—— WHY THIS MATTERS ——
The Declaration articulated principles that became the foundation of modern democratic thought. The ideas that governments derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed, and that people have the right to alter or abolish governments that violate their rights, have inspired democratic and independence movements worldwide for nearly 250 years.
The document's universal language has served as a standard against which the nation has been measured. From the abolitionists to the suffragists to the civil rights movement, reformers have invoked the Declaration's promise of equality to demand that America live up to its founding ideals. Its words have been a tool of moral pressure far beyond their original context.
Its influence extended far beyond the United States. The Declaration directly influenced the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) and served as a model for independence declarations across Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is one of the most imitated political documents in history.
—— THE TAKEAWAY ——
On July 4, 1776, fifty-six men committed treason by signing a document that justified a revolution and asserted that all men are created equal. Some lost everything. The contradiction between their words and their practice of slavery has driven American history ever since. The sentence they wrote is still being argued over.
—— QUOTE OF THE DAY ——
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
— The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
—— OUR QUIZ OF THE DAY ——
How much do you know about the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson's drafting process, the grievances against King George III, the deleted passage on slavery, and the document's global influence?
