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Jefferson was the assigned leader of the committee that wrote the declaration. It's really more accurate to say he was the editor. It's not universal opinion,

Jefferson was the assigned leader of the committee that wrote the declaration. It's really more accurate to say he was the editor. It's not universal opinion, but it's very likely that most of the declaration, especially the most-quoted parts ("inalienable rights", "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", etc.) were written by Thomas Paine. However as a very recent immigrant from England, crediting Paine would have been politically unthinkable.

wahern 7y ago
"[R]econstruction of Thomas Jefferson's 'original Rough draught' of the Declaration of Independence before it was revised by the other members of the Committee of Five and by Congress": https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/ruffdrft.html https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/ruffdrft.html It already contains all of those. If anything, Jefferson was cribbing from George Mason. But all of these men were well read (e.g. in the works of John Locke), and they presumably were well read in each others' publications considering their political and social associations.
- garmaine 7y ago
  There was a book about it in 1947 that was never really refuted. But basically, the famous writing style of the declaration doesn't match any of Thomas Jefferson's pre-1776 writings at all. Nor anyone else on the committee of 5. And the "original draft" of Jefferson's contains copy errors indicating itself was copied from another source. There's also the fact that the content--very anti-slavery, and very anti-monarchy--doesn't much resemble Thomas Jeferson's contemporary philosophy either. There is one thing it does resemble, very closely: Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine and released in the same year. Here you can read them side-by-side: https://richardmasta.liberty.me/wp-content/uploads/sites/582/2016/07/001.jpg https://richardmasta.liberty.me/wp-content/uploads/sites/582... One of the other reasons we know the "original rough draft" of Jefferson's that you mention was a copy of another document is that John Adams also made a copy of the original draft, and his is different. Notably his draft includes a lot of weird (by American standards of the day) punctuation, spelling, and word choice which is typical of Paine's writing but was edited out of Jefferson's "rough draft." In any case I did point out that this is not a universal belief. But I will be bold enough to say that we can divide historians into two groups: the vast majority who were taught that Jefferson wrote it and believe it, and the few who have actually looked at the evidence and concluded that someone else did, quite probably Thomas Paine. The evidence is that compelling. (Thomas Jefferson never in his life claimed that he write the declaration. He in fact played down his involvement numerous times. It was, however, necessary in the sphere of global politics that the declaration be perceived to have been written by the continental congress, which Jefferson was a member of, and not a dirt poor recent immigrant who was the editor of a failing newspaper that and happened to be friends with Jefferson, Adams and Franklin.)
  - wahern 7y ago
    Thank you. I've read Paine's Rights of Man and understood him to be at least as capable a writer and thinker as Jefferson and others, but didn't know (or at least didn't remember) much about the details of his associations. Perhaps because I read Rights of Man I've always thought of Paine as a (two-way) bridge between American and Continental revolutionary thought and activism, neglecting to appreciate his other direct roles in historical affairs--as opposed to the more indirect influence of Common Sense.
    - garmaine 7y ago
      Paine was also directly involved in the French Revolution, and was elected to serve in the french assembly (or whatever the revolutionaries called their congress), which he did even though he didn't speak a word of french. He was a very interesting character.
  - jcranmer 7y ago
    > There's also the fact that the content--very anti-slavery, and very anti-monarchy--doesn't much resemble Thomas Jeferson's contemporary philosophy either. Jefferson was one of the most outspoken voices in the US in favor of France during the French Revolution, even when it slipped into the extreme Reign of Terror phase, and Jefferson was also the spearhead of the movement to abolish the international slave trade.
    - garmaine 7y ago
      The story of Jefferson and slavery is a bit more nuanced that that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_and_slavery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_and_slavery
      - jcranmer 7y ago
        My recollection is that Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence wasn't so much anti-slavery, as it was anti-slave-trade specifically. The fact that Jefferson was consistently opposed to the slave trade, much more so than the institution of slavery itself, means that the attitude towards slavery in the early drafts isn't at odds with his personal philosophy.

wahern 7y ago

"[R]econstruction of Thomas Jefferson's 'original Rough draught' of the Declaration of Independence before it was revised by the other members of the Committee of Five and by Congress": https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/ruffdrft.html https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/ruffdrft.html It already contains all of those. If anything, Jefferson was cribbing from George Mason. But all of these men were well read (e.g. in the works of John Locke), and they presumably were well read in each others' publications considering their political and social associations.

garmaine 7y ago
There was a book about it in 1947 that was never really refuted. But basically, the famous writing style of the declaration doesn't match any of Thomas Jefferson's pre-1776 writings at all. Nor anyone else on the committee of 5. And the "original draft" of Jefferson's contains copy errors indicating itself was copied from another source. There's also the fact that the content--very anti-slavery, and very anti-monarchy--doesn't much resemble Thomas Jeferson's contemporary philosophy either. There is one thing it does resemble, very closely: Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine and released in the same year. Here you can read them side-by-side: https://richardmasta.liberty.me/wp-content/uploads/sites/582/2016/07/001.jpg https://richardmasta.liberty.me/wp-content/uploads/sites/582... One of the other reasons we know the "original rough draft" of Jefferson's that you mention was a copy of another document is that John Adams also made a copy of the original draft, and his is different. Notably his draft includes a lot of weird (by American standards of the day) punctuation, spelling, and word choice which is typical of Paine's writing but was edited out of Jefferson's "rough draft." In any case I did point out that this is not a universal belief. But I will be bold enough to say that we can divide historians into two groups: the vast majority who were taught that Jefferson wrote it and believe it, and the few who have actually looked at the evidence and concluded that someone else did, quite probably Thomas Paine. The evidence is that compelling. (Thomas Jefferson never in his life claimed that he write the declaration. He in fact played down his involvement numerous times. It was, however, necessary in the sphere of global politics that the declaration be perceived to have been written by the continental congress, which Jefferson was a member of, and not a dirt poor recent immigrant who was the editor of a failing newspaper that and happened to be friends with Jefferson, Adams and Franklin.)
- wahern 7y ago
  Thank you. I've read Paine's Rights of Man and understood him to be at least as capable a writer and thinker as Jefferson and others, but didn't know (or at least didn't remember) much about the details of his associations. Perhaps because I read Rights of Man I've always thought of Paine as a (two-way) bridge between American and Continental revolutionary thought and activism, neglecting to appreciate his other direct roles in historical affairs--as opposed to the more indirect influence of Common Sense.
  - garmaine 7y ago
    Paine was also directly involved in the French Revolution, and was elected to serve in the french assembly (or whatever the revolutionaries called their congress), which he did even though he didn't speak a word of french. He was a very interesting character.
- jcranmer 7y ago
  > There's also the fact that the content--very anti-slavery, and very anti-monarchy--doesn't much resemble Thomas Jeferson's contemporary philosophy either. Jefferson was one of the most outspoken voices in the US in favor of France during the French Revolution, even when it slipped into the extreme Reign of Terror phase, and Jefferson was also the spearhead of the movement to abolish the international slave trade.
  - garmaine 7y ago
    The story of Jefferson and slavery is a bit more nuanced that that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_and_slavery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_and_slavery
    - jcranmer 7y ago
      My recollection is that Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence wasn't so much anti-slavery, as it was anti-slave-trade specifically. The fact that Jefferson was consistently opposed to the slave trade, much more so than the institution of slavery itself, means that the attitude towards slavery in the early drafts isn't at odds with his personal philosophy.