out the whole Colony was like a shock of electricity, assuring every man, and placing him erect and solidly on his center.' The Freeholders of Albemarle met on the 26th day of July, 1774, and appointed Thomas Jefferson and James Walker deputies to the Convention at Williamsburg, and passed resolutions, which have the ring of the Declaration of '76. They affirm the constitutional right of all the Colonies to make laws by their respective legislatures, duly constituted and appointed by their own consent; that no other legislature whatever can rightly exercise authority over them; that their natural and legal rights have in frequent instances been invaded by the Parliament of Great Britain, and particularly by an act which takes away the trade of the inhabitants of the town of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts Bay; which assumptions of unlawful power are dangerous to the rights of the British Empire in general, and should be considered as its common cause; and pledging themselves ready to join with their fellow-subjects in any part of the empire, in executing all their rightful powers which God has given us, for the reëstablishment and guaranteeing such their constitutional rights, when, where, and by whomsoever invaded.' The Convention met on the first day of August, and at once inaugurated a revolutionary movement by appointing delegates to a General Congress of all the Colonies, to be held in Philadelphia. Mr. Jefferson was prevented from attending the Convention by a severe attack of dysentery on the way, but his views were represented by a draft of instructions for the delegates to the General Congress, which was presented by Mr. Peyton Randolph. This paper was printed by order of the Convention, under the title of A Summary View of the Rights of British America.' It was reprinted in England, 'interpolated by Edmund Burke,' as Mr. Jefferson writes, and secured for the author the distinction of having his name enrolled with those of Hancock, John and Samuel Adams, Peyton Randolph, and some twenty others, in a bill of attainder, as worthy of special proscription for their advocacy of the Colonial cause. The document is full of American ideas of government; and no one, on reading it in connection with the Declaration of Independence, drafted after two years more of discussion, and consolidation of thought and expression on the same themes, can doubt of their being the production of the same mind and pen. It was this 'Summary View,' and the 'Conciliatory Proposition' of the House of Burgesses which he drafted, that introduced the author into the second session of the General Congress at Philadelphia, in June, 1775, as the successor of Peyton Randolph, with the reputation of 'a happy talent of composition,' 'a peculiar felicity of expression,' which at once placed him, the youngest member but one, on a footing of equality with the oldest and most distinguished members. Five days after he took his seat, he was placed on the committee to draw up the 'Address on the Causes of taking up Arms.' The Address was drawn by Mr. John Dickinson, the leader of the Conservative party, with a few paragraphs and the peroration from a first draft made by Mr. Jefferson, which was thought 'to be too strong and decisive for the occasion.' Acceptable as the whole Address was, those paragraphs and the peroration were the portions which found the warmest welcome in the public heart. On the 22d of July, Congress elected a Committee to consider and report on Lord North's Conciliatory Proposition-and on this Committee Mr. Jefferson was placed, by the ballots of members, second only to Benjamin Franklin, and above John Adams and Richard Henry Lee. He was designated by his colleagues to draft the paper,* which he did to their satisfaction, and it was adopted by Congress, July 31,-the last great measure of the session which closed the next day, August 1, 1775. Mr. Jefferson was re-elected to the Congress of 1775-76, by the Virginia Convention, and took his seat on the 25th of September. Although absent for nearly four months of the Session (from December 18, 1775, to May, 1776), it was his privilege to be a member of the Committee, charged with the consideration of the Resolutions of the Colonial Conventions and Legislatures looking toward a separation from the mother country and a Declaration of Independence. This Committee, elected by ballot, stood in the following order :-Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. To him was assigned the drafting of the Declaration-and of his work, Daniel Webster, in his Funeral Eulogy, remarks :— As a composition, the Declaration is Mr. Jefferson's. It is the production of his mind, and the high honor of it belongs to him, clearly and absolutely. To say that he performed his work well, would be doing him injustice. To say that he did excellently well, admirably well, would be inadequate and halting praise. Let us rather say, that he so discharged the duty assigned him, that all Americans may well rejoice that the work of drawing the title-deed of their liberties devolved upon him. * Mr. Jefferson's election to the exclusion of Richard Henry Lee, who moved the Resolution, was due to the fact that Mr. Lee had already been made Chairman of the Committee on Confederation, and on the day the ballot was taken, had obtained leave to absent himself on account of the dangerous illness of his wife. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. Proceedings in the Congress of the United Colonies respecting "A Declaration of Independence, by the Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled." SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1776. Resolved, That the resolution respecting independency [moved by the delegates from Virginia on the 7th] be referred to a committee of the whole Congress. The Congress then resolved itself into a committee of the whole; and, after some time, the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee have taken into consideration the matter to them referred, but not having come to any resolution thereon, directed him to move for leave to sit again on Monday. Resolved, That this Congress will, on Monday next, at 10 o'clock, resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their farther consideration the resolutions referred to them. MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1776. Agreeable to order, the Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their further consideration the resolutions to them referred; and, after some time spent thereon, the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee have had under consideration the matters referred to them, and have come to a resolution thereon, which they directed him to report. The resolution agreed to in committee of the whole being read, Resolved, That the consideration of the first resolution be postponed to Monday, the first day of July next; and in the meanwhile, that no time be lost, in case the Congress agree thereto, that a committee be appointed to prepare a Declaration to the effect of the said first resolution, which is in these words: "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 1776. Resolved, That the committee for preparing the Declaration consist of five:The members chosen, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. John Adams, Mr. Franklin, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. R. R. Livingston. [The Declaration was drawn up by Mr. Jefferson, and, being approved by the committee, was reported by him to the House on Friday, June 28th, when it was read and ordered to lie on the table.] MONDAY, JULY 1, 1776. The order of the day being read, Resolved, That this Congress will resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into consideration the resolution respecting independency. That the Declaration be referred to said committee. The Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole. After some time the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported that the committee had come to a resolution, which they desired him to report, and to move for leave to sit again. The resolution agreed to by the committee of the whole being read, the determination thereof was, at the request of a colony, postponed until to-morrow. Resolved, That this Congress will, to-morrow, resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to consider the Declaration respecting independence. TUESDAY, JULY 2, 1776. The Congress resumed the consideration of the resolution reported from the committee of the whole, which was as follows: Resolved, That these 'United Colonies are, and, of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. Agreeable to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole; and, after some time, the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee have had under consideration the Declaration to them referred; but, not having had time to go through the same, desired him to move for leave to sit again. Resolved, That this Congress will, to-morrow, again resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their further consideration the Declaration respecting independence. WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 1776. Agreeable to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their farther consideration the Declaration; and, after some time, the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee desired leave to sit again. Resolved, That this Congress will, to morrow, again resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their farther consideration the Declaration of Independence. THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1776. Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their farther consideration the Declaration; and after some time the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported that the committee had agreed to a declaration, as follows: A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES 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 a 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 shown, 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. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world: He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislativo bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the danger of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of chese States; for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislature. He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power. He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation: For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment, for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: For imposing taxes on us without our consent: For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury: For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies: For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the powers of our governments: For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress, in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by |