thedeclarationofindePendenceandthetwo-dollarBill
Senior counsel Section Chairs : TomHyde – AttorneyatLaw & DonSmith – Smith , Tozian , Daniel & Davis , PA
In May of 1776 , the Second Continental Congress convened in the Pennsylvania State House , now Independence Hall , in Philadelphia . Tensions were already high . British troops had clashed with minutemen in Lexington and Concord . Blood had been spilled . King George III was sending 12,000 German mercenaries to put down the rebellion . 1 The Congress chose a Committee of Five : Benjamin Franklin , John Adams , Robert Livingston , Roger Sherman , and Thomas Jefferson to oversee the writing of a resolution calling for independence . 2 When the Committee first met , they discussed who would write the first draft . Years later ( 1822 ), Adams recalled the moment it was decided that Jefferson should write it . Jefferson first proposed that Adams write the resolution . Adams refused and gave three reasons why Jefferson should write it . “ Reason first , you are a Virginian , and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business . Reason second , I am obnoxious , suspected , and unpopular . You are very much otherwise . Reason third , you can write ten times better than I can .” 3
thetwo-dollarbillcommemoratestheroleofthomasJeffersoninthe draftingandthepresentationofthedeclarationofindependence .
The two-dollar bill commemorates the role of Thomas Jefferson in the drafting and the presentation of the Declaration of Independence . The front of the bill features the image of Thomas Jefferson , the principal author of the Declaration . On the reverse of the bill is an engraving of a painting by John Trumbull ( circa 1818 ) entitled Declaration of Independence . It depicts the Committee of Five standing before John Hancock , the president of the Congress , on June 28 , 1776 , when the first draft of the Declaration was presented to the Second Continental Congress . Jefferson is handing the document to John Hancock . This painting by Trumbull is one of four revolutionary period scenes commissioned by the United States Congress in 1817 and is now located in the United States Capitol Rotunda . 4
After the Declaration was presented , the delegates to the Congress began revising and editing the document . After eighty-six edits , they reached a final agreement . One of the most famous edits came from Benjamin Franklin . Jefferson had written , “ We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable .” Franklin suggested changing it to “ We hold these truths to be self-evident .“ 5
As Jefferson began writing the Declaration of independence , he took inspiration from the English philosopher John Locke and from the discussions that he witnessed in the Second Continental Congress . Jefferson ’ s language was also influenced by George Mason , who had written the Virginia Declaration of Rights wherein he wrote , “ all men are born equally free and independent . 6 In the Declaration of Independence , Jefferson acknowledges that “ all men are created equal , that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights , that among these are Life , Liberty , and the pursuit of Happiness .” 7 Jefferson , ever the lawyer , then lays out the facts of the case against the British Crown , showing that Great Britain has established an absolute tyranny over the colonies . 8
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