Three Facts About the Writing of the Declaration of Independence
In the U.S., we just celebrated the Fourth of July in honor of our country’s independence. This year marked the 249th anniversary of the Continental Congress voting to adopt and sign the Declaration of Independence, which is still an amazing piece of writing today.
We have all had writing assignments that seem daunting, whether it is an email with a difficult ask or an essay on a subject that we do not fully grasp. Imagine being tasked with explaining why you are making the decision for approximately 2.5 million people to leave the only form of government they have ever known to start a new nation. Oh, and a war is going to have to be fought for this, too. That is exactly what Thomas Jefferson accomplished as he drafted the document in his Philadelphia home from June 11, 1776, to June 28, 1776.
For a generation used to writing on computers and their phones, the idea of being able to actually pull this off with a quill and ink and then have it edited and approved by 55 delegates seems almost impossible. In reality, the process for developing the Declaration was very similar to approaches generally still used today, minus the technology. Here are three facts explaining why.
The Committee of Five: When drafting larger mission statements or long-term plans, organizations will put together an ad-hoc committee to guide the process and the Continental Congress created the Committee of Five that included Jefferson. Fortunately, his fellow members did not include Ned from Product Development, who always adds unreadable technical jargon, or Debbie from Legal, who tones down all assertive language. Instead, he had John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and additional Founding Fathers Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman. Not a diverse group, but it was the 18th Century.
An Outline: If you have read some of my previous posts, you may know that I am a huge proponent of creating outlines for writing projects. While the Declaration does not have specific sections, the Committee of Five did agree on a general outline of: 1) an introduction asserting the ability to declare independence, 2) a preamble explaining when revolution is justified, 3) an indictment of the actions of King George III, 4) a denunciation of the British people, and 5) a conclusion declaring independence.
The Editing Process: Once Jefferson completed his draft of the Declaration, it went back to the Committee of Five for review and editing. Next up was the Continental Congress. In the HBO miniseries John Adams, there is a scene where Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson) says, “They will try to mangle it, and they may succeed.” Ultimately, 86 edits were made by the Committee of Five and the full Congress. Jefferson came away unhappy with some of them, but if anyone had to draft a high-stakes document today that was reviewed by 55 people, they would be overjoyed with only 86 edits.
While the Declaration of Independence was written and edited in a primitive fashion, there was one technological advancement that was crucial to its assertion being fulfilled. The printing press allowed it to be disseminated throughout the 13 colonies and Europe in a matter of weeks. This in essence unified a large number of American colonists under one cause.
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