![]() ![]() ![]() Thomas Jefferson Writes the Declaration of Independence That document would become known as the Declaration of Independence. Livingston of New York–to draft a formal statement justifying the break with Great Britain. Before departing, however, the delegates also appointed a five-man committee–including Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Robert R. Amid heated debate, Congress postponed the vote on Lee’s resolution and called a recess for several weeks. ![]() On June 7, the Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee introduced a motion calling for the colonies’ independence before the Continental Congress when it met at the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. In March 1776, North Carolina’s revolutionary convention became the first to vote in favor of independence seven other colonies had followed suit by mid-May. That same month, the recent British immigrant Thomas Paine published “Common Sense,” in which he argued that independence was a “natural right” and the only possible course for the colonies the pamphlet sold more than 150,000 copies in its first few weeks in publication.ĭid you know? Most Americans did not know Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence until the 1790s before that, the document was seen as a collective effort by the entire Continental Congress. News of his words reached America in January 1776, strengthening the radicals’ cause and leading many conservatives to abandon their hopes of reconciliation. In his message to Parliament in October 1775, King George III railed against the rebellious colonies and ordered the enlargement of the royal army and navy. Things changed over the course of the next year, however, as Britain attempted to crush the rebels with all the force of its great army. America Before the Declaration of IndependenceĮven after the initial battles in the Revolutionary War broke out, few colonists desired complete independence from Great Britain, and those who did–like John Adams– were considered radical. ![]()
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