It amazing how such a document changed the world and its way of thinking. A simple combination of words that captured a part of humanity that had never been defined in
such a way. While many of the concepts were not new, a formal declaration from the colonies defined who we would become. Thomas Jefferson was asked to be a part of a committee to write the Declaration. A committee of five was created including John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut.
Jefferson was recognized for his writing skills and encouraged to take the lead by Adams. Over the next 17 days, the declaration was created and presented to the continental congress on July 1. Some key elements including a section addressing the slavery were excluded. (Imagine where we may be now if some of those elements remained and helped to build a totally free society without slavery from its beginnings)
One of the most important aspects of the great experiment was not just the all men are created equal line. Jefferson believed that the people should choose their government and they should make the decisions that guide their individual lives. Others, like the Federalists (like the liberal left) argued that the people are not educated or capable of making decisions of such magnitude. The socially empowered (elite, wealthy) are most informed and should decide what is good and right for the masses. I wonder if all the signers all fully grasped the elements Jefferson put in the document and the long term consequences. I suspect that many considered their own misery under British rule and the people of the colonies were an afterthought. As with many politicians the needs of the self overshadow the needs of the many.
Regardless of the intent of the Continental Congress, the words that follow are a powerful testament to our country and the capacity of human reason.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Thomas Jefferson crafted a manuscript envisioning ideas that were not necessarily original, but written to convey a view of liberty and freedom that would change the world. It is compelling and should be re-read from time to time to remind us of where we came from and how brilliant the framers were, particularly Thomas Jefferson.