{"data":{"description":"Declaration of Independence was approved and officially adopted by the Continental Congress.","title":"The Start Of A Nation - Declaration of Independence","post_type":"page","content":"\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eChurch bells rang out over Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.... signalling that the Declaration of Independence was approved and officially adopted by the Continental Congress.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e A month earlier Congress had appointed a Committee of Five to draft a statement to the world presenting the colonies' case for independence. The committee consisted of John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. The committee assigned Jefferson the task of writing the original document. After minor alterations were subsequently made by Franklin and Adams, the document was submitted to Congress.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e Two passages in Jefferson's draft were rejected by the Congress — an intemperate reference to the English people and a scathing denunciation of the slave trade. Otherwise, the Declaration was adopted without significant change.....and through it all, Jefferson was its primary author.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e The Declaration of Independence made Jefferson internationally famous. Years later, when John Adams complained that the Declaration's ideas were \"hackneyed,\" Jefferson agreed. He wrote: \"Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind.\"\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e One of the great newspapers in Philadelphia at the time was The Pennsylvania Packet. Of undoubted loyalty to the Patriot cause, it was published by John Dunlap who served as an officer in the Revolution. The paper was published every Monday and was famous for an engraving of a ship in the center of its masthead.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003ctable style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\r\n\u003ctbody\u003e\r\n\u003ctr\u003e\r\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/freedom-documents/declaration-of-independence-image/\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"imgctr alignleft\" src=\"/images/earlyamerica/doi_icon.jpg\" alt=\"See the Declaration of Independence\" width=\"104\" height=\"228\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eHere is the \u003cstrong\u003eDeclaration of Independence\u003c/strong\u003e as it originally appeared in the \u003cem\u003ePennsylvania Packet\u003c/em\u003e in its issue of Monday, July 8, 1776. This facsimile of a portion of The Packet is from a reprint of the original by J.V. Vondersmith of Philadelphia on the centennial observance of the Declaration in 1876.\r\n\u003cem\u003e(Click on icon to see full-size image.)\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n\u003ctd\u003e\r\n\u003ctable\u003e\r\n\u003ctbody\u003e\r\n\u003ctr\u003e\r\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n\u003c/tbody\u003e\r\n\u003c/table\u003e\r\n\u003c/td\u003e\r\n\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n\u003c/tbody\u003e\r\n\u003c/table\u003e\r\n\u003cul style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003eRead the \u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/declaration-independence/\"\u003etext version of the Declaration of Independence\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003eTake Our \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/early-america-quiz/declaration-of-independence-quiz/\"\u003eDeclaration of Independence Quiz\u003c/a\u003e and Test Your Knowledge of America's Great Freedom Document\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003c/ul\u003e\r\n\u003ch4 style=\"color: #ad8431;\"\u003eFour Things You Need to Know About The Declaration of Independence\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003col style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/freedom-documents/asked-jefferson-write-first-draft-declaration-independence/\"\u003eWhy They Asked Jefferson To Write The First Draft\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/freedom-documents/declaration-independence-written/\"\u003eHow The Declaration of Independence Was Written\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/freedom-documents/congress-deletes-fourth-jeffersons-text-declaration-independence/\"\u003eCongress Deletes A Fourth of Jefferson's Text\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/freedom-documents/declaration-independence-declaration-independence/\"\u003eWhy The Declaration of Independence Is Not The Declaration of Independence\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003c/ol\u003e","menu":[{"path":"lives-early-america","title":"Famous Lives","submenu":[{"path":"lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin","title":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin"},{"path":"lives-early-america/ramsays-life-washington","title":"Ramsay's The Life of Washington"},{"path":"lives-early-america/adventures-col-daniel-boone","title":"The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone"},{"path":"lives-early-america/true-story-paul-revere","title":"The True Story of Paul Revere"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"portrait","title":"Portraits"},{"path":"rare-images/last-men-revolution","title":"The Last Men of the Revolution"}]},{"path":"freedom-documents","title":"Freedom Documents","submenu":[{"path":"freedom-documents/bill-rights","title":"Bill of Rights"},{"path":"freedom-documents/declaration-independence","title":"Declaration of Independence"},{"path":"freedom-documents/u-s-constitution","title":"The U.S. Constitution"}]},{"path":"world-early-america","title":"World of Early America","submenu":[{"path":"bookmarks","title":"Early American Bookmarks"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"firsts","title":"Firsts!"},{"path":"rare-images/maps","title":"Maps"},{"path":"rare-images","title":"Rare Images"},{"path":"music1","title":"Music"},{"path":"writings","title":"The Writings of Early America"}]},{"path":"boston-massacre","title":"Boston Massacre"},{"path":"milestone-events","title":"Milestones"},{"path":"early-america-review","title":"The Review"},{"path":"home/teachers-students","title":"Teachers"},{"path":"sitemap","title":"Sitemap"}]},"success":true}