United States Declaration of Independence

Delegates gathered in Philadelphia's Pennsylvania State House on July 4, 1776, to adopt a document that would redefine political power. Thomas Jefferson drafted the text between June 11 and June 28, incorporating Enlightenment ideals into a formal justification for separating from Great Britain. The Second Continental Congress had already voted for independence two days prior through the Lee Resolution but needed a public statement to explain the break to the world.

Jefferson structured the argument around natural rights, asserting that all men hold unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He followed this philosophy with a list of 27 specific grievances against King George III, detailing abuses like imposing taxes without consent and quartering troops among civilians. The committee members who reviewed the draft included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Franklin notably changed "sacred & undeniable" to "self-evident" in the opening lines.

The official handwritten copy prepared by clerk Timothy Matlack was signed on August 2, 1776, carrying the risk of execution for high treason. Abraham Lincoln later cited this document as the moral foundation of the nation during his Gettysburg Address in 1863. Historian Joseph Ellis described the second sentence of the text as the most consequential words in American history. The original parchment now resides at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., displayed alongside the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. [edit]