Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 1793
Editor’s Note: An expanded version of the 1789 French declaration, this revised version goes even further than its predecessor — it places greater emphasis on egalitarianism and endows all humans with even greater rights. Though it was never officially enacted, it nonetheless has been highly influential when it comes to advancing notions in the generation sto […]
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 1789
Editor’s Note: If there was a declaration to be written in the years soon after the founding of our republic, who better than Thomas Jefferson to have at least have some hand in its composition? As U.S. minister to France, Jefferson at times leant his expertise and insights — in many ways the product of […]
Presentments by the Grand Jury of Cheraws District, in South-Carolina (May 20, 1776)
Editor’s Note: If ever a compelling case can be made that the Declaration of July 4, 1776 was in fact evocative of declarations at the state and local level that preceded it, one need look no further than the opening section of this at-times rather poetic ‘presentment’ issued in May 1776 in the Cheraws District […]
Buckingham County, VA, Declaration of Independence (June 14, 1776)
Editor’s Note: This declaration of independence was one of scores that was issued by states and localities in the months following the publication of Thomas Paine’s influential and rabble-rousing Common Sense. These declarations in turn informed our July 4, 1776 document. This statement, or declaration, was published in the Virginia Gazette on June 14, 1776, and was likely issued […]
The Declaration of Independence – July 4, 1776
Editor’s Note: In American Scripture, eminent scholar Pauline Maier characterizes the July 4, 1776 Declaration originally as “a workaday document” that came to be “in the grubby world of 18th century politics.” Maybe so, but it has long since come to be seen as “a statement of values that more than any other expresses not why we […]
Declaration of Independence — Reported Draft, Submitted by Committee of Five to Second Continental Congress (1776)
Editor’s note: This draft of our Declaration of Independence is the one submitted by the Committee of Five — John Adams of Massachusetts and Roger Sherman of Connecticut; Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Robert R. Livingston of New York; and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia — to the Second Continental Congress, which then made significant changes. A […]
New York Mechanics Declaration of Independence (May 29, 1776)
Editor’s Note: This local declaration of independence — which preceded the July 4, 1776 document was issued in May 1776, signed by manual laborers in the Mechanick-Hall, New York — requested that New York’s contingent in the Second Continental Congress formally vote for independence. This eloquent local declaration calls for a pan-colonial declaration of independence. New […]
Vermont Declaration of Independence — January 15, 1777
Editor’s Note: Five months before it became known as Vermont — a roughish translation of the French for ‘green mountain’ — the territory was at its origins ‘New Connecticut.’ In January 1777, delegates gathered in Westminster to declare formally their independence both from the British crown and from the New York colony (Congress didn’t recognize it as a […]
Preamble to Virginia Constitution – a Declaration of Grievances (June 29, 1776)
Editor’s Note: Ever wonder where Jefferson came up with the grievances enumerated in his first draft of the Declaration? You need look no further than the Preamble he composed for the Virginia Constitution. While Jefferson was not present at the proceedings of Virginia’s constitutional constitution, such was his passion for constitution making that he sent the convention delegates a constitution […]
Virginia Declaration of Rights (June 12, 1776)
Editor’s Note: Take a careful gander at the Virginia Declaration of Rights, crafted by American patriot George Mason and adapted by the Virginia Constitutional Convention on June 12, 1776, and you’ll see readily how deeply it influenced Jefferson’s opening paragraphs in his draft of the Declaration of Independence, not to mention our Constitution’s Bill of […]
