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How the Declaration of Independence was written

How the Declaration of Independence was written

Dramatization of events surrounding the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which was written by Thomas Jefferson and approved by the Continental Congress and signed on July 4, 1776.
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News •

Missouri State students will read Declaration of Independence aloud • Nov. 9, 2026, 4:47 AM ET (The Kansas City Star)
‘Mom, I’m going viral again’: Millions are ‘Thunderstruck’ by Thomas Jefferson marching band performance • Nov. 4, 2026, 3:37 PM ET (The Colorado Springs Gazette)
High school football roundup for Oct. 30, 2026: Thomas Jefferson tops Peters Township to lock up WPIAL playoff berth • Oct. 31, 2026, 12:43 AM ET (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
The Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia now speaks Ukrainian • Oct. 27, 2026, 2:00 PM ET (VOA - Voice of America English News)
A free audio tour of the Ohio Air & Space Trail is now available • Oct. 16, 2026, 10:56 AM ET (Dayton Daily News)

Transcript

JEFFERSON: Well, a committee was appointed with five men--Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman--and I served as chairman. When I asked John Adams to write the document, he refused, saying I could write much better than he. So I consented. Adams and Franklin made only a few edits, but Congress made several changes. I squirmed under the ordeal and I remember Franklin saying he made it a rule whenever in his power, to avoid becoming the draftsman of papers to be reviewed by a public body. But the document survived. And on the evening of July 4, in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed.
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