THOMAS
JEFFERSON, Declaration of Independence
A recent biography of Thomas Jefferson titles him the
“American
Sphinx,” evoking the complexity and seeming contradictions that haunt this
important American political thinker.
Interesting consideration/paradox/contradiction: Students, like historians, will
wonder how to reconcile the morality of the man who could both pen the important
treatise on human rights, the Declaration of Independence, and hold slaves on his
Virginia plantation. These contradictions between the imaginary ideal and the
practical present fueled the radicalism of the rebellious Jefferson who imagined a
Utopia in which all men were indeed free, but also excused the failure of the
practical Jefferson who couldn’t live up to that ideal: He still existed in a corrupt
society that kept him from the ideal.
Is this a too-easy justification for Jefferson’s personal failings and the failings of
his time, but encourage them to look for the contradictions in the Declaration and
the things they suggest about both Jefferson’s time and his beliefs?
Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, the document that became
synonymous with the American Dream and which has been used to justify social
demands from abolition and civil rights to women’s suffrage, according to
Jefferson aimed at neither “originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied
from any particular and previous writing” but instead drew its ideas from “the
harmonizing sentiments of the day.” Although this remark was written in response
to critics who accused Jefferson of lacking originality at best and of plagiarism at
worst, it also serves to position Jefferson in his role as American oracle, creator of
a document that both demonstrated the ideals of the newly forming country and
served to shape that country’s history and ideology. Because of its importance in
shaping American politics and culture and its influence on political philosophy
around the globe, critics have remained interested in determining texts and
contexts that influenced Jefferson’s creation. Joseph Ellis points out that, crunched
for time and believing that the more important work was going on in the formation
of state constitutions, Jefferson surely relied on his own previous texts, Summary
View, Causes and Necessity, and his three drafts of the Virginia Constitution, and
that the language of George Mason’s preamble to that constitution certainly
influenced Jefferson’s wording of the Declaration.
Critics have similarly investigated the various influences on Jefferson’s political
thinking, following two main arguments. Much like the critics of Jefferson’s era
who questioned his originality, one line of thought suggests that the Declaration
stems from John Locke’s doctrine of natural rights and rightful revolution,
which leads to a picture of Jefferson as inherently liberal and individualistic,
and compatible with the formation of American capitalism.
The second idea asserts that Jefferson’s ideas stem from the Scottish
Enlightenment and Frances Hutcheson. This argues that Jefferson’s belief in the
natural equality of men emerges from Hutcheson’s principle of the “moral sense”
inherent in all people. In opposition to the first argument, this one places Jefferson
as communal and collectivist, and so at odds with Lockean liberalism and the
competitive marketplace. A third, more recent, and somewhat questionable line of
thought suggests that the Declaration was written to be performed and so was
influenced by new books of rhetoric by such English authors as Thomas Sheridan
and James Burgh. Stemming from the final draft of the Declaration which is
punctuated with a series of quotation marks, this suggests that Jefferson was
concerned with using rhetorical principles for dramatic effect. As Joseph Ellis
points out, what all these arguments have in common is the drive to position
Jefferson’s thinking in a purely literary context, missing the way the Declaration of
Independence and its vision of natural rights represent an important formulation of
the “Jeffersonian imagination.” Jefferson created quick dichotomies which
contrasted the flawed present with the possibilities of a more idealistic and perfect
future. As Ellis writes, the ideal society Jefferson imagines “was the vision of a
young man projecting his personal cravings for a world in which all behavior was
voluntary and therefore all coercion unnecessary, where independence and equality
never collided, where the sources of all authority were invisible because they had
already been internalized”.
It is the Jeffersonian imagination that was able to house the contradictions that
students will find so obtrusive, but also so compelling—the contradictions make
him human.
CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
The Continental Congress, to which delegates from all the American colonies were
invited, was assembled twice. Fifty-six delegates from twelve colonies (Georgia
did not send delegates) attended. The first meeting or advisory council, held from
September 5 to October 26, 1771 in Philadelphia, was called in response to the first
of the Intolerable Acts passed by Parliament on March 31, 1771; the Boston Port
Bill closed Boston Harbor to all maritime traffic, except for supplies for the army
and food for the city, until restitution had been made to the East India Company for
tea dumped in the harbor during the Boston Tea Party. The Congress hoped to
reestablish colonial rights and liberties which the colonists felt had been violated.
A series of acts of the British government had culminated in several repressive
measures directed against Massachusetts that were believed to threaten the rights
of all the colonists.
The Continental Congress laid the groundwork for the Declaration of
Independence, and eventually independence itself, with two major theoretical
statements. The delegates were initially concerned with establishing the origins of
American rights and providing for the best way of defending them. Two factions
contended over the origins of these rights: One believed that they were rights
derived from nature, and another that they were derived from colonial charters,
English common laws, and the British constitution. A compromise included
aspects of both theories and resulted in a declaration of American rights. The
second major item the delegates dealt with was establishing a boycott of the East
India Company and the temporary abolishment of the slave trade. So, during the
first Congress, the delegates established a Declaration of Rights of an Association
which bound the colonists in a nonimportation, nonexportation, and
nonconsumption agreement and a resolution to reconvene if their grievances were
not redressed by King George III. Parliament gave no indication that the colonists’
demands would be met, and the Congress reconvened in May 1775. This
time the delegates agreed on the necessity of fighting the British, but argued about
whether to declare independence or to work toward reconciliation. They agreed to
arm themselves and to prepare for defensive measures.
In March 1776, the independence movement gained more support with the
additional votes of the Carolinas, and was encouraged by the hostile nature of
George III, his ministers, and Parliament. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of
Virginia proposed “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free
and independent states.”Votes were postponed until July 1 and Thomas Jefferson
was given the task of drafting a declaration of independence.
July 2nd will be a day to be celebrated in infamy….but they forgot!
On July 4, Congress gave final approval to the Declaration of Independence and
proceeded to appoint diplomatic consuls to seek financial assistance and military
aid for the newly formed country. The Continental Congress continued as the
central government of the union until it was replaced on March 4, 1789, by the new
government under the Constitution.
REVOLUTION AND THE SOCIAL CONTRACT
Jefferson’s three-part political manifesto serves to set out the natural rights of
Americans—rights developed by John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau—in
order to show how those rights lead to a social contract with a particular
government, and to suggest the grievances that could lead to the severing of that
contract. Jefferson’s statement of the colonists’ philosophical agreement as to the
nature of human societies—the ground and reason for people to form political
entities—provided the colonists with the common understanding and justification
that they needed to go ahead with the war for independence, but more than that, it
provided the ideological basis for human rights as they continue to be more
broadly defined. Through the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson solidified a
belief in the necessity of government to serve people and in people’s rights to
protest and rebel if those governments fail them.
Class Discussion
1. Ask students to consider how Jefferson sets up his argument with the British
crown. What issue does he address first? Second? Last? And how does the way he
structures his argument help to make it?
2. In the middle of the Declaration, Jefferson provides a list of grievances. What
types of complaints does he make and how might they suggest Jefferson’s
definition of the government’s role in the social contract?
3. Compare the social contract as it is set out in Jefferson’s purposeful
Declaration with the social contract as it is proposed in the more philosophical
texts of Locke and Rousseau. How does the contract change as it becomes more
practical? As it needs to justify both ending an old allegiance and creating
a new one?
2. In the Declaration, Jefferson writes, “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.” Yet, Jefferson was himself a slaveholder. Equiano, in his Narrative,
points out just this sort of hypocrisy in European and American thought and
practice. How might Equiano address this contradiction in Jefferson’s text? How
might Jefferson defend himself?
3.. One of the interesting tensions in the Declaration is the pull between an
enlightened ideology of human rights and a more practical concern with concrete
“wrongs” such as taxation. Separate the class into two groups, one that attacks the
hypocrisy of using philosophy to justify pragmatism, and one that defends this
method as the only way to make the world a better place. Give them one class
period to plan their debate, and one to stage it.
Why July 2 is really America’s independence day
On July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote a letter to his wife Abigail with this prediction:
“the Second of July, 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of
America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as
the great anniversary Festival.”
Why July 2nd? Why did he not write her another letter, on July 4th, and say he had
been premature? Because it was on July 2, 1776, that the Second Continental
Congress meeting in Philadelphia voted to approve a resolution for independence
from Britain. On that same day, the Pennsylvania Evening Post published this:
“This day the Continental Congress declared the United Colonies Free and
Independent States.”
So why do we celebrate July 4th as Independence Day? Well…they forgot the
following year as they were embroiled in a revolution….
We do because of a little thing called the Declaration of Independence.
The document was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4th. The first draft
of the declaration was written by Thomas Jefferson, who gave it to John Adams
and Benjamin Franklin for editing.
Jefferson then took their version, refined it further and presented it to the Congress.
Scholars don’t even think the document was signed by delegates of the Continental
Congress on July 4th.
The huge canvas painting by John Trumbull hanging in the grand Rotunda of the
U.S. Capitol depicting the signing of the Declaration is, it turns out, a work of
imagination. In his biography of John Adams, historian David McCullough wrote:
“No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia.”
It is now believed that most of the delegates signed it on Aug. 2. That’s when
the assistant to the secretary of Congress, Timothy Matlack, produced a clean
copy.
John Hancock, who was the president of the Continental Congress, signed first,
right in the middle of the area for signatures. The last delegate to sign is believed
to be Thomas McKean of Delaware, some time in 1777.
The city of Philadelphia, where the Declaration was signed, waited until July 8 to
celebrate, with a parade and the firing of guns. The Continental Army under the
leadership of George Washington didn’t learn about it until July 9.
As for the British government in London, well, it didn’t know that the United
States had declared independence until Aug. 30.
Top 5 Myths about the 4th of july:
#1 Independence Was Declared on the Fourth of July.
America's independence was actually declared by the Continental Congress on July
2, 1776. The night of the second the Pennsylvania Evening Post published the
statement:"This day the Continental Congress declared the United Colonies Free
and Independent States."
So what happened on the Glorious Fourth? The document justifying the act of
Congress-you know it as Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence-was
adopted on the fourth, as is indicated on the document itself, which is, one
supposes, the cause for all the confusion. As one scholar has observed, what has
happened is that the document announcing the event has overshadowed the event
itself.
When did Americans first celebrate independence? Congress waited until July 8,
when Philadelphia threw a big party, including a parade and the firing of guns. The
army under George Washington, then camped near New York City, heard the new
July 9 and celebrated then. Georgia got the word August 10. And when did the
British in London finally get wind of the declaration? August 30.
John Adams, writing a letter home to his beloved wife Abigail the day after
independence was declared (i.e. July 3), predicted that from then on"the Second of
July, 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am
apt to believe it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great
anniversary Festival." A scholar coming across this document in the nineteenth
century quietly" corrected" the document, Adams predicting the festival would
take place not on the second but the fourth.
#2 The Declaration of Independence was signed July 4.
Hanging in the grand Rotunda of the Capitol of the United States is a vast canvas
painting by John Trumbull depicting the signing of the Declaration. Both Thomas
Jefferson and John Adams wrote, years afterward, that the signing ceremony took
place on July 4. When someone challenged Jefferson's memory in the early 1800's
Jefferson insisted he was right. The truth? As David McCullough remarks in his
new biography of Adams,"No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever
occurred at Philadelphia."
So when was it signed? Most delegates signed the document on August 2, when a
clean copy was finally produced by Timothy Matlack, assistant to the secretary of
Congress. Several did not sign until later. And their names were not released to the
public until later still, January 1777. The event was so uninspiring that nobody
apparently bothered to write home about it. Years later Jefferson claimed to
remember the event clearly, regaling visitors with tales of the flies circling
overhead. But as he was wrong about the date, so perhaps he was wrong even
about the flies.
The truth about the signing was not finally established until 1884 when historian
Mellon Chamberlain, researching the manuscript minutes of the journal of
Congress, came upon the entry for August 2 noting a signing ceremony.
As for Benjamin Franklin's statement, which has inspired patriots for
generations,"We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall hang
separately" … well, there's no proof he ever made it.
#3 The Liberty Bell Rang in American Independence.
Well of course you know now that this event did not happen on the fourth. But did
it happen at all? It's a famous scene. A young boy with bond hair and blue eyes
was supposed to have been posted in the street next to Independence Hall to give a
signal to an old man in the bell tower when independence was declared. It never
happened. The story was made up out of whole cloth in the middle of the
nineteenth century by writer George Lippard in a book intended for children. The
book was aptly titled, Legends of the American Revolution. There was no pretense
that the story was genuine.
If the Liberty Bell rang at all in celebration of independence nobody took note at
the time. The bell was not even named in honor of American independence. It
received the moniker in the early nineteenth century when abolitionists used it as a
symbol of the antislavery movement.
If you visit the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, encased in a multi-million dollar
shrine (soon to be replaced by an even grander building), a tape recording made by
the National Park Service leaves the impression that the bell indeed played a role
in American independence. (We last heard the recording three years ago. We
assume it's still being played.) The guides are more forthcoming, though they do
not expressly repudiate the old tradition unless directly asked a question about it.
On the day we visited the guide sounded a bit defensive, telling our little group it
didn't really matter if the bell rang in American independence or not. Millions have
come to visit, she noted, allowing the bell to symbolize liberty for many different
causes. In other words, it is our presence at the bell that gives the shrine its
meaning. It is important because we think it's important. It's the National Park
Service's version of existentialism.
As for the famous crack … it was a badly designed bell and it cracked. End of
story.
#4 Betsy Ross Sewed the First Flag.
A few blocks away from the Liberty Bell is the Betsy Ross House. There is no
proof Betsy lived here, as the Joint State Government Commission of Pennsylvania
concluded in a study in 1949. Oh well. Every year the throngs still come to gawk.
As you make your way to the second floor through a dark stairwell the feeling of
verisimilitude is overwhelming. History is everywhere. And then you come upon
the famous scene. Behind a wall of Plexiglas, as if to protect the sacred from
contamination, a Betsy Ross manikin sits in a chair carefully sewing the first flag.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is where Betsy sewed that first famous symbol of
our freedom, the bars and stripes, Old Glory itself.
Alas, the story is no more authentic than the house itself. It was made up in the
nineteenth century by Betsy's descendants.
The guide for our group never let on that the story was bogus, however. Indeed,
she provided so many details that we became convinced she really believed it. She
told us how General George Washington himself asked Betsy to stitch the first
flag. He wanted six point stars; Betsy told him that five point stars were easier to
cut and stitch. The general relented.
After the tour was over we approached the guide for an interview. She promptly
removed her Betsy Ross hat, turned to us and admitted the story is all just a lot of
phooey. Oh, but it is a good story, she insisted, and one worth telling.
Poor Betsy. In her day she was just a simple unheralded seamstress. Now the
celebrators won't leave her alone. A few years ago they even dug up her bones
where they had lain in a colonial graveyard for 150 years, so she could be buried
again beneath a huge sarcophagus located on the grounds of the house she was
never fortunate enough to have lived in.
So who sewed the first flag? No one knows. But we do know who designed it. It
was Frances Hopkinson. Records show that in May 1780 he sent a bill to the Board
of Admiralty for designing the"flag of the United States." A small group of
descendants works hard to keep his name alive. Just down the street from Betsy's
house one of these descendants, the caretaker for the local cemetery where
Benjamin Franklin is buried, entertains school children with stories about
Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration, who is also credited with designing the seal
of the United States. We asked him what he made of the fantasies spun at the Betsy
Ross house. He confided he did not want to make any disparaging remarks as he
was a paid employee of the city of Philadelphia, which now owns the house.
The city seems to be of the opinion that the truth doesn't matter. Down the street
from the cemetery is a small plaque posted on a brick building giving Hopkinson
the credit he rightly deserves.
As long as the tourists come.
#5 John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Died on the Fourth of July.
Ok, this is true. On July 4, 1826, Adams and Jefferson both died, exactly fifty
years after the adoption of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, which the
country took as a sign of American divinity. But there is no proof that Adams,
dying, uttered,"Jefferson survives," which was said to be especially poignant, as
Jefferson had died just hours before. Mark that up as just another hoary story we
wished so hard were true we convinced ourselves it is.
Have a Happy Fourth!