Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1918-07-04

The delegates from Pennsylvania, New
York and one or two other colonies OBJ
jected on the ground TINT the middle
colonies were not yet ready for so rndi-
cal step, although personally express
Ing friendly attitude.
Delegates Hesitated.
Unanimous action by all the colonies
on so mOmentous question was re.
Sarded by congress as Of paramount
Importance. Some of the delegates had
not been instructed to go so far as vot-
ing for independence, New York and
New Jersey being among them. The
majority had been authorized to take
any action that might be deemed wise,
Virginia having gone so far as actual
ly to instruct her delegates to propose
q declaration of independence to con-
gress. and Richard Henry Lee was
simply obcying the Legislative voice of
his colony when he presented his resO.
lutions.
June 10 congress postponed final
consideration for three weeks, and on
the following day appointed commit.
tee of five to draw up the declaration
Richard Henry Lee. ms the proposer. of
the plan, would surely have been on the
committee and, possibly, its chairman,
had he not In the meantime been lur-
riedly summoned home by the illness
/ of his wife. But for that Lee might
have been the author Of the declnra.
ton instead of his younger Virginia
colleague. Thomas Jefferson, then but
thirty-three years old.
Jefferson had brought to congress
the reputation for welding facile
pen. and in the bnlloting for the com.
mittee he received majority of votes
and became its chairman. The others
We're John Adams of Massachusetts,
benjamin Franklin Of Pennsylvania.
Roger Sherman of Connecticut and
Robert X. Livingston of New York.
Honor Given Jefferson.
! How did Jefferson come to he sc.
lected to write the Declaration, "the
one American state paper. as has beer
said, that has reached to supreme dis.
tinction in the world and that seems
likely to last as long MS American civ1.
liZntlon lasts"?
The most Interesting account is Civ.
en- by John Adams. who says that he
and Thomas Jefferson were designated
by the committee to prepare the rough
minutes In n proper form. Mr.. Jeffer.
son first proposed that Adams prepare
the draft of the Declaration. Adams
declined. giving. as he says in. his au.
photography, the following reasons:
| ~ That he was q virginian and / o
Observation-Disclosures. (2) That he was 6
| Southern man and a Northern one. g.
| That I had been so obnoxious for m,
early and constant zeal in promoting the
measure that every draft of mine would
undergo more severe scrutiny and criti.
! cism in congress than one Of his compost.
ton. az And lastly. and that would be rea.
/ great opinion OF the elegance of his per
| and none at all of my own. therefore
| insisted that no hesitation should be
made on his part He accordingly took
| the minutes and in day or two ,oducet
to me his draft
As Jefferson Wrote It.
Jefferson says that the entire com.
mittee urged him to make the draft
He showed 1t first to Franklin and
Adams because they were the two
members Of whose judgments and
amendments wished most to have the
benefit" They made few minor nj
terations in their handwriting. Thi!
original draft was given by Jefferson
to Richard Harry Lee, the dean Of
the Virginia delegation, and in 1872;
his grandson presented it to the Amer
lean Philosophical society of Philadel
phia.
Jefferson. having made another copy
with the changes suggested. presented
1t to the committee, which reported i
unaltered to congress. July l Phila
delphia was on the qui vive of expecta
ton, and contemporary accounts have
left us stirring picture Of the eager
ness with which the citizens AWAITED
definite news Of the most important
act which the colonists had been called
upon to decide in the long chain o.
disputes with the mother country. Or
the following day. when the forum
vote Of congress was taken, the reso
buttons were approved by twelve col
onies-alI except New York. The orig
inal colonies. therefore. became TIL.
United States Of America on July 2
1776. The next two days were spen
In discussing the draft of the Declare
ton rs drawn by Jefferson. The debat,
was animated, but when 1t was al
over the draft was adopted with sur
pris'ngly few changes. n tribute to tn,
ability with which the author had ex
pressed to the world the causes whicl
had made 1t necessary for zone peopi
to dissolve the political bands whicl
have connected them with another"
Unanimously Adopted.
The Declaration OF independents
. was then unanimously adopted by til
twelve colonies, whose delegates wcr