what was thomas jefferson thinking when he wrote the declaration of independence?

Question

i mean, i know when it was written and what it says, but does anyone know why he did it? and what his thoughts were on it?

Answer 1

It sounds like you, and several who have answered, have a couple of basic misunderstandings of how the Declaration came to be written and where the material came from. Perhaps the most important thing to recognize is that while Jefferson made a lot of specific decisions about WORDING and how to present it, the basic structure and content were NOT original with him... so what he was "thinking about" was mostly about what OTHERS had written in related political documents in the past.

Here's more of the story:


1) First, WHY was any Declaration written at all?

a) The Declaration was, in one sense, an afterthought. The MAIN thing Congress was doing was getting ready to vote on a resolution offered by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia (at the request of the Virginia House of Burgesses),

"that these states are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states. . . "

But the delegates of some of the colonies were hesitant about declaring independence at this time, wanting to try to negotiate a bit longer. It was thought that writing a formal declaration would help convince (and give time enough, to convince) those delegations

b) To make a public, open defense/explanation to the whole WORLD, to show that what they were doing was justified. (This is specifically stated in the first paragraph of the Declaration.)

c) "That was how one did such things" The form of the Declaration is largely modeled on earlier English documents, esp. the "English Bill of Rights, 1689" which had likewise been a formal statement listing the abuses of a king (James II) when Parliament essentially deposed him and replaced him with William and Mary. Unlike earlier documents from Congress --petitions of grievance seeking to resolve the issues between them (and listing their complaints against PARLIAMENT, not the King) -- this was a form which specifically cited the KING's behavior and declared their rejection of his rule. Note that this is EXACTLY what Congress was doing with its Declaration, so its not surprising this earlier form was followed.

For that matter, the Declaration by Congress was actually following the lead of several of the colonies which had already issued their own. You will ALSO see much of the basic "argument" of the Declaration, as well as several of the "abuses" in Jefferson's list in a key document issued by the FIRST Continental Congress in October 1774, called the "Declarations and Resolves". (And this, as noted, borrowed from earlier political documents, esp the English Bill of Rights".)


**Note that this 3rd point explains much of the "technique" or patterning of the document. Jefferson did NOT come up with it on his own, but borrowed freely from forms like the English Bill of Rights AND the various Declarations many of the colonies had already written.

2) Second, once the decision was made to write such a document, what do we know about the SPECIFIC structure and content of this document? How did it come to take this specific shape?

From Question 1 it is clear that it was not Jefferson's own idea, and that at least some of the content and structure was borrowed from or parallel to that in OTHER Declarations, etc.

Also, note that though Jefferson wrote MOST of it, not only did he borrow from other documents, but there are many things in the document that other members of Congress played a part in. The committee charged with writing it may very well have outlined the basic structure and contents it might have, though they freed him to write the draft himself. They also suggested changes, esp. John Adams and Ben Franklin (some of which we have in their own hand). And then there were changes that Congress as a whole made to the document before accepting it (including omitting the grievance concerning slavery, which South Carolina and Georgia vehemently objected to, and a couple --not all!-- of the specific references to God [Creator, Providence]).

By the way, note that the basic content and argument of the "preamble" -- naming and appealing to basic RIGHTS -- is ALL found in the other earlier documents already mentioned (texts linked below).

We actually have some evidence of some of the editing the document went through from Jefferson to the committee to the final version signed by Congress.

Here is a copy of the text, showing Congressional changes from the Committee version.
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/congress.htm

Also, Paula Maier's book *American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence* includes an excellent discussion of the writing process, and of the various sets of "grievances" that form the central part of the document.

And here are links to the texts of several of those earlier documents that formed the real BASIS for the argument and content of the Declaration

ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS (1689) --and notice its specific subtitle,
"An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown"
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/england.htm

Declarations and Resolves (First Continental Congress, October 14, 1774)
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/resolves.htm

Virginia Declaration of Rights (Mason, May 1776)*
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/virginia.htm

Draft Constitution of State of Virginia (Jefferson!!, May-June 1776)*
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/jeffcons.htm

* These two were combined to form the state of Virginia's Constitution

Answer 2

What was he thinking and why did he write it?

Here he was at the time, a brave man among other brave men, governed with ideals and blessed with the opportunity in a new land to create and mold a government different from the colonies, thrilled and maybe even scared , not knowing that he is going to write on paper the lofty thoughts that would set the benchmark of the land where every man who cherishes freedom would wish to live in .
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http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration.html


the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument. Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases,

Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in "self-evident truths" and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country.

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."

Answer 4

what was he thinking?

"It's July in Philadelphia. It's stinking hot. I'm wearing wool long pants and a coat. There's no air conditioning.

I'm sharing a bath with Washington and he keeps leaving those wooden teeth on the sink. Gives me the willies.

There's nothing on TV.

The Phillies are last in the league.... again. Traffic in the city is a nightmare. All the girls think my Virginia accent is funny, and that fat slob Franklin is getting all the action. Hancock and Adams keep going on and on about how great the Patriots are.

At least the cheese steaks are good.

I just want to slap something together and get back to good old Sally Hemming......"

Answer 5

How to design a government that would treat all citizens with equal rights. Protect the citizens from without as well as within.
Allow the citizen to live his life with minimum intrusion by the government.
On the last part he failed to get the wording exact and understandable to future educated idiots and lawyers.

Answer 6

Read the document, what he was thinking in on the paper.
For broader understanding consult the federalist papers

Answer 7

he was probably like who cares if they want my head i am gonna sign this damn thing. Or i think that was john hanncock because he signed his name big. . .