Who Was Thomas Jefferson 托马斯·杰斐逊 Chapter 3 “We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident…”

When he married in 1772, Jefferson was in his third year in the House of Burgesses. Over the past few years, the thirteen colonies had grown restless under British rule. England had been trying to tax the colonists 1. The Americans refused to pay. Britain’s Tea Act of 1773 made things worse. On December 16, a group of people in Boston, Massachusetts, protested this tax on tea. They boarded three ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The tea dumping became known as the Boston Tea Party. To punish Bostonians, Britain closed the city’s harbor. This made it difficult for people in Boston to obtain supplies they needed.



The British hoped the punishment would scare Americans into obeying them. Just the opposite happened. Many colonists, including Thomas Jefferson, were furious. They felt that the unjust British taxes had provoked the Bostonians.



During this time of trouble, Patrick Henry made a famous speech. He said, “Give me liberty or give me death!” Unlike Patrick Henry, Jefferson was a poor speaker. In fact, he often sat silently at public meetings. But could he write! In 1774, he wrote A Summary View of the Rights of British America. This pamphlet was his first major writing on politics. It revealed that he was thinking of matters far beyond taxes. The colonists might be ready to separate from Britain, he wrote. He even referred to the colonies as the “states of America.”



Jefferson had another suggestion. On June 1, 1774—the day Boston’s port was to close—the House of Burgesses should not do business as usual. Instead, Virginia lawmakers should pray and fast (not eat) to show support for Massachusetts. Jefferson’s fellow lawmakers agreed to his idea.



Lord Dunmore, Virginia’s British governor, learned of the plan. He decided 2 to shut down the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg. This didn’t stop Jefferson and his colleagues. They marched to the Raleigh Tavern 3. There, they declared that Americans were one people and must stick together. They also proposed that a meeting of delegates from all thirteen colonies be organized.



This big meeting was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1774. It was called the First Continental 4 Congress. Every colony but Georgia sent delegates. Stomach problems kept Jefferson from attending, but Virginia’s delegates included George Washington and Patrick Henry. If Britain kept mistreating America, Congress was to meet again the next spring.



Britain didn’t change its ways. War between the thirteen colonies and Britain broke out on April 19, 1775, at Lexington, Massachusetts.



The Second Continental Congress opened in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania State House that May. Jefferson wasn’t there at the start, for he had not been chosen as a delegate. But when a vacancy 5 in Virginia’s delegation 6 had to be filled, his chance came. Jefferson set out in his buggy on the 250-mile trip to Philadelphia. By June 22, 1775, the tall, redheaded Virginian had taken his seat in Congress. Although he rarely said a word, everyone knew he had a way with a pen. He was asked to write some of Congress’s official documents.



Over the next year, Congress couldn’t decide what to do. Some delegates didn’t want to cut all ties with Britain. The war that had begun in Massachusetts would soon end, they hoped. Then America would return to British rule. Other delegates, including Thomas Jefferson, wanted to create a new, independent nation. As the war continued, more and more delegates favored independence. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia arose in Congress. Declare America independent, Lee urged.



Congress was to vote on the proposal in early July. A majority of colonies—seven out of thirteen—would have to favor independence for the measure to pass.



THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS



What if the vote came out for independence? Then Congress would need to tell the world why America was separating from England. A committee was asked to prepare a Declaration of Independence. Its members were Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.



Instead of working as a group, the committee decided that one of them should write the Declaration. Franklin, a world-famous scientist and statesman, seemed like the man for the job. But Ben was seventy years old and not well. Finally, the choice came down to Jefferson or Adams.



This was a difficult time for Thomas. In early 1776, he had been away from Congress, during which time his mother had died. Afterward 7, Jefferson developed a painful migraine headache that lasted for six weeks. He did not return to Congress until the middle of May. So, on the June day that he talked with John Adams, he was not yet in a writing mood.



Adams later recalled how each of them tried to talk the other into writing the Declaration.



“You ought to do it!” said Jefferson, who at thirty-three was seven years younger than Adams.



“I will not!” John Adams replied.



“Why?” Jefferson wanted to know.



“Reasons enough,” said Adams.



“What can be your reasons?” Thomas persisted.



First, explained Adams, a Massachusetts man shouldn’t write the Declaration. Massachusetts had been the site of the Boston Tea Party and the war’s first battle. Now other colonies should get more involved. Second, the other delegates liked Thomas more than John. A Declaration written by Jefferson would be better received than one by Adams.



“Reason third,” said John Adams, “you can write ten times better than I can!”



The praise for his writing did the trick. “Well,” said Thomas Jefferson, “if you are decided, I will do as well as I can.”



Jefferson sat down in his second-floor apartment at the corner of Philadelphia’s Market and Seventh streets. He set up his portable desk and took out paper, pen, and ink. “When in the course of human events,” he began, “it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…”



As his pen moved, he became more inspired. A few lines into the Declaration came the stirring words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”



Later he described how England had been mistreating America. He finished with a moving sentence: “And for the support of this Declaration,” he concluded, “… we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”



If independence was voted down, the Declaration would go into the garbage. Only if independence passed would the paper be needed. When the vote was made on July 2, twelve colonies chose independence. New York did not vote. However, several days later New York made the vote unanimous.



The delegates thought that July 2, 1776—when independence was approved—would be considered the new nation’s birthday. They were wrong. Congress made some changes in the Declaration, then approved it on July 4. Copies of the Declaration went out to the thirteen new states. Americans loved the paper that proclaimed their country’s birth. Since the document stated, “IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776,” on it, Americans began celebrating that date as the nation’s birthday. The Fourth of July is honored as the country’s birthday to this day.



Did writing the Declaration bring Jefferson instant fame? No. Congress wanted the Declaration to be “an expression of the American mind,” as Jefferson put it. No author was named on the document. Until 1784, when a newspaper mentioned it, few people knew that Thomas Jefferson had written the country’s “birth certificate.”