Drafting the Declaration of Independence

Drafting the Declaration of Independence

In this video, Prof. Antwain K. Hunter (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) explains
 

  • How did the Continental Congress change Thomas Jefferson’s draft?
  • How did Jefferson feel about these changes?
  • What change was most significant?
  • Was Thomas Jefferson anti-slavery?
  • Why did delegates to the Continental Congress remove the grievance?

 

 

Image: Thomas Jefferson’s “Original Rough Draught” of the Declaration of Independence with minor emendations in the hands of John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, June 1776 (Library of Congress)

Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of Independence with strikethroughs and insertions
  • 5 Minutes