Pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary Of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object theĮstablishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history The necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of Such has been the patient sufferance of these Right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new Train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same objectĮvinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their Long established should not be changed for light and transient causes Īnd accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are moreĭisposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves byĪbolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments Powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its The right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men,ĭeriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.Įqual, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable People to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them withĪnother, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separateĪnd equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's GodĮntitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one These are indicated as a link to the first draft. One of the inspirations for the American Declaration of Independence was the Plakkaat van Verlatinghe of 1581 in which the Dutch abjured the King of Spain as their sovereign.

Study in the history of political ideas (New York, 1922) page 174. This may be a better version of theĭraft. There is still another version of the text, the so-called Lee-version. Originality of principles or sentiments, nor yet copied from any particularĪnd previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the Americanĭraft version of the Declaration of Independence, June 28, Terms so plain and firm as to command their assent. Thing new, but to place before mankind the common sense of the The intention of the Declaration, Jefferson later wrote, was not saying some. The most important of these were theĮxcision of a passage indicting the slave trade andĪ number of passages were reworded in a more pious form.Ī formal parchment copy of the Declaration, adopted in Congress 4 July 1776,Īugust 2, and most of the 55 signatures were inscribed upon it on that There are no journals on the debatesĪnd the amendments. The draft was presented to Congress on June 28 andĪfter a number of changes had been made. I then wrote a fair copy, reported it to the committee, andįrom them, unaltered to the Congress. Their alterations were two or three only,Īnd merely verbal. Paper now in my hands, with the corrections of Dr. Reported it to the committee I communicated it separately to Dr. Such thing as a sub-committee was proposed, but they unanimously pressed on Taken by myself at the moment and on the spot. venture to oppose my memory to his, were it not supported by written notes, At the age of 88 andĤ7 years after the transactions. Adams memory has led him into unquestionable error. Jefferson's version is completely different. 'Well', said Jefferson, 'if you areĭecided I will do as well as I can'.

You can write ten times better than I can. Obnoxious, suspected and unpopular you are very much otherwise. Virginian ough to appear at the head of this business. Oh no! Why will you not? You ought to do it. Jefferson proposed to me to make the draught, I said I will not You shall do Now Jefferson and Adams have twoĬompletely different versions of what happened then. Was to consist', and it then appointed Jefferson and himself to form a Livingston, and Roger Sherman was appointed toĪdams states that the committee of five decided upon 'which the declaration While this resolution was being discussed,on JuneĬonsisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Which asserted that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, feeĪnd independent States. Into Congress a resolution,(adopted on July 2) On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee introduced

Declaration of independence