Who petitioned Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence?

Answer 1

Good question -- There is actually some debate about exactly how this happened, in part because Adams and Jefferson themselves told different stories


John Adams (also on the committee to draft the Declaration, and a tireless proponent of independence in the Continental Congress) gave own famous account of Jefferson's coming to write the work first in 1805 and then in an 1822 letter:

"Jefferson proposed to me to make the draft. I said, 'I will not,' 'You should do it.' 'Oh! no.' 'Why will you not? You ought to do it.' 'I will not.' 'Why?' 'Reasons enough.' 'What can be your reasons?'
'Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business.
Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise.
Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can.'" http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/jefferson.htm
(see his fuller account there)

There is some substance to all these entertaining & oft-quoted reasons (humorously expressed in the song "But, Mr Adams" from the Broadway musical "1776" - http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/1776originalcastrecording/butmradams.htm )

But maybe that's not precisely what happened. Jefferson respectfully disputed Adams's recollections in 1823, based, he tells us, on notes he wrote at the time: "The Committee of 5 met, no such thing as a sub-committee was proposed, but they unanimously pressed on myself alone to undertake the draught. I consented"
http://oll.libertyfund.org/Texts/Becker0298/DeclOfIndependence/HTMLs/0034_Pt03.html
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In any case, here are some key facts people often are not aware of that may help us understand what happened and why.

1) Jefferson's being a Virginian was key.

a) Virginia's lead was very important to the endeavor
The New England colonies strongly supported independence, but others tended to thing them too extreme
The support of Virginia (the largest state) was deemed critical in getting other colonies (esp. the lukewarm Middle colonies) to join the effort. In keeping with this, Richard Henry Lee had gone to Virginia to seek a resolution for independence and returned to place it before the Congress.

b) Since it was his own resolution, legislative courtesy would ordinarily call for Lee to be asked to chair the committee chosen to draft the declaration which was to outline the reasons for that resolution. But when Lee asked to return home to his sick family the evening before the committee was selected, it was decided to appoint a fellow Virginian to chair the committee (though Adams's letter disputes this). In that case, it may have been almost an accident that Jefferson was on the committee to begin with.
http://www.citizensoldier.org/decdrafters.html
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/revwar/book/chap4.html

Once asked to chair the committee, however, it was probably assumed that he would take the lead in drafting the document. His known ability with the pen probably contributed to this, though Adams and Franklin were capable writers themselves. (The other two members of the committee would not be likely candidates. Robert Livingston [NY] was not completely in agreement with the effort, and Roger Sherman [CT] was not a gifted writer.)


2) Note that legislatively the KEY thing was NOT the declaration, but Lee's resolution (which passed on July 2). The declaration was, in fact, something of an afterthought!

The idea of asking a committee to draft this statement only came up in response to continued hesitation by some of the colonies (providing further time and opportunity for politicking and settling the main question).

Thus the Declaration was not, at the time, thought to be "the big deal" it subsequently became. It did not even attempt to be original -- Jefferson drew freely on well-known language and on previous documents, esp. earlier lists of grievances and resolutions by the individual colonies, though he clearly improved on their style.

It is not surprising, then, that Adams did not propose drafting it himself -- something he later came to rue. Adams is certainly being honest on his recognition that Virginia should be seen as heading the matter, and in recognizing how his efforts had antagonized some members of Congress; he also was well aware of Jefferson's literary facility.

As for how much of it was Jefferson's own work --we actually have a copy of Jefferson's draft with added notes of changes, some in Adams's hand, and we know the changes Congress itself made after this. But it is ALSO quite possible that the committee (esp. Adams and Franklin) had significant input before the first draft into the basic shape and content of the document, though they left much of the wording to him. (Paula Maier discusses this whole process in her excellent study, *American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence*)

3) Another possible factor -- the simple practical matter of the demands on Adams time. He was, for instance, very busy politicking on this question, trying to line up the votes. In fact, Adams was a key member of Congress during his entire service there (dwarfing Jefferson's work). He was a great workhorse both in keeping the war effort going --for a long time he was essentially its 'Secretary of War'-- and in pressing the independence question, state constitutions, etc. In fact, the success of the vote for independence doubtless owes more to John Adams than to any other member of the Congress.

So one might say Jefferson's getting this plumb assignment was in many ways an accident and an afterthought (though very happy ones!)

Answer 2

A committee was appointed by the 2nd Continental Congress to write a Declaration of Independence. On it was John Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman (The Committee of Five).

Together, they decided that Jefferson should actually write it. Then the committee got together and made revisions to it. Then Jefferson wrote the final draft, taking into account the revisions.

Answer 3

The Declaration of Independence was also strongly influenced by Thomas Paine's pamphlet, Common Sense and from the Enlightenment. It even borrowed one of the sentences; the line "life, liberty, and the pursuit of property" from Common Sense was changed to "among these are Life Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". "The pursuit of Happiness" was also a line from Common Sense, that was used in a different part of the pamphlet. This is not particularly plagiarism, as Sense was very influential to Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers, as well as most Americans as a whole. Thomas Paine's Common Sense contributed many ideas to the Declaration. Philosophical background The Preamble of the Declaration is influenced by the spirit of republicanism, which was used as the basic framework for liberty. In addition, it reflects the concepts of natural law, and self-determination. Ideas and even some of the phrasing was taken directly from the writings of English philosopher John Locke. Thomas Paine's Common Sense had been widely read and provided a simple, clear case for independence that many found compelling. According to Jefferson, the purpose of the Declaration was "not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of . . . but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take."