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Thomas Jefferson didn’t want to write the Declaration of Independence. But he did.
Pictured below are the first and fourth (final) pages of his rough draft. It includes changes that Benjamin Franklin and John Adams told him verbally. Then the document was given to the Congress. Jefferson said nothing as Congress cut about one-fourth of his words, including a part about slavery. Jefferson was a slaveholder from the South. But he was against the slave trade, which he blamed on King George. Other Southern representatives made sure that part was cut out.
◀ Jefferson took his ideas about liberty and independence from many sources. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was one of them. The Declaration of Independence has three main parts. The first describes the basic rights of citizens. The second tells why the colonies are angry with the king. The third says that the colonies are breaking all ties with Britain to become the United States of America. Jefferson is pictured here writing at his desk. He designed the desk himself.
