Did Jeffersons original draft of the declaration of independence differ from the version that congress used?

Question

and if so, how?

Answer 1

Yes. There were edits, particularly by Ben Franklin, to change the tone and increase the likelihood of it going through.

Some books on Jefferson have the original text with line-outs and edits so that it looks like a rough draft of the final Declaration. There were many edits, it's hard to give a brief answer that does them justice.

Answer 2

Yes. Jefferson is credited with "framing" the Declaration of Independence. This means that he did rough drafts, contributed ideas. The document went through many revisions and tweaking.

Answer 3

Another well-known edit is the "self evident" line from "we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal." Jefferson drafted the phrase as "we hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable" but Benjamin Franklin reviewed the language and determined that 1) invoking religion through the use of "sacred" was unecessarily bringing religion into the matter, and 2) that the language, as drafted, was not firm enough. Franklin wrote "we hold these truths to be self evident..." to demonstrate that the American position was so solid, so clear, and so simple, that no further evidence or support was required

Answer 4

Yes it did. You can find an original draft on Wikipedia.org and the U.S. historical archives.

One of the most interesting things that Jefferson put in the original was in the part were he listed the colonies grievances with the king. Basically, he was saying that the king was wrong to conduct slavery. This was rejected by committee before it was sent.

Answer 5

not one of the unique signers of the assertion of Independence are alive. Walt Disney not at all signed it, the two. Does your instructor have a clue on what she or he's coaching... in any respect....?