Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality

Before becoming the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson was a farmer and intellectual from Virginia who participated in the Continental Congress, the body that formally signed and approved the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson had long been a supporter of independence and critical of the monarchy; his fame as a writer led others to trust him with a leading role in crafting the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson is widely credited as the work’s author, though he actually produced the work with the help of a committee, and the entire Continental Congress commented on his draft. Allen stresses the collaborative nature of the Declaration not to minimize Jefferson’s contributions but to underscore her claims about Humans as Social Beings.

Jefferson was an enslaver who had a lengthy relationship with Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman who was his wife’s half-sister. His hypocrisy in this area has long been a moral problem for historians and political philosophers, and Allen discusses it at length to determine how we can take the Declaration seriously. These moral shortcomings are key to Our Declaration’s dual Optimism and Pessimism About Humanity.

The second president of the United States, John Adams, was originally a lawyer from Massachusetts and a delegate to the Continental Congress. He was a prodigious writer, producing a great deal of personal correspondence and work in favor of independence. He was the author of Thoughts on Government, a treatise defending the colonists’ right to set up new institutions for themselves. He worked especially closely with Jefferson and Richard Henry Lee, helping Lee mount a defense of independence and commenting on Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration—part of what Allen describes as a tradition of “democratic writing.” His letters to his wife Abigail inform some of what historians know about the Continental Congress.

Richard Henry Lee was a statesman from Virginia and delegate to the Continental Congress. He engaged in frequent conversations with Adams about revolution and the conflict between the colonies and Great Britain. Lee believed that George III’s attempt to ally with foreign powers against the colonists dissolved his authority over the latter, and, together with Adams, he asserted the necessity of revolution due to this absence of government. Lee presented the motion for full independence, which paved the path toward the Declaration of Independence.

Franklin was an inventor, diplomat, and delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania. He was assigned to the Declaration committee along with Adams, Jefferson, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert Livingston of New York. Franklin had many other committee responsibilities, but he helped edit Jefferson’s draft, thus contributing to what Allen calls “democratic writing.”

Matlack was a strong supporter of independence and was active in establishing Pennsylvania’s new government while setting up its militia. He acted as a secretary during the Continental Congress. He was assigned the task of inscribing the Declaration on parchment, the version the delegates would all sign. Matlack’s punctuation suggests that Jefferson supervised his work closely. He personally added dashes to the Declaration’s famous sentence about all men being created equal. According to Allen, his punctuation helps establish that government is a key instrument of human happiness.

Goddard was a printer from Maryland and a devout Catholic. She was charged with printing the Declaration so that copies could be sent to all 13 states. Like Matlack, Goddard’s editorial choices influenced the future reading of the Declaration, making her one of its many authors. In keeping with her devout faith, Goddard capitalized many of the text’s references to God. It also seems likely that the period after “pursuit of happiness” in the National Archives version was placed there by Goddard.

George III was king of England from 1760 to 1820. The colonists addressed many petitions to him about their political situation, and this broken relationship between the colonists and the king was a major driver for independence. He is thus a major subject of the Declaration of Independence, as the list of grievances is based primarily on his conduct as a ruler. George III serves as an example of what government that is not based on communication and dialogue turns into.