PHILADELPHIA — Walter Isaacson's book, "The Words That Made America," explores the drafting of the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson and examines the philosophical influences on the document.

Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed a motion at the Second Continental Congress on June 7, 1776, stating, "These United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." Following this proposal, the Second Continental Congress formed a committee to draft a declaration explaining the decision to declare independence. The committee included Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.

Thomas Jefferson, at 33 years old, drafted the Declaration of Independence in a rented second-floor room on Market Street in Philadelphia. He used a portable mahogany writing desk that he designed and brought from Virginia, and was assisted by Robert Hemmings, an enslaved valet. Jefferson sent his initial draft to Benjamin Franklin on the morning of June 21, with a cover note stating, "Will Doctor Franklin be so good as to peruse it, and suggest such alterations as his more enlarged view of the subject will dictate?" Franklin subsequently replaced the word "sacred" with "self-evident" in the draft.

The final version of the Declaration of Independence includes the statement, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Jefferson borrowed from the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which George Mason drafted a few weeks prior. John Locke's "Second Treatise on Government," which Jefferson had read multiple times, propounded the concept of natural rights.

The delegates edited out a lengthy passage in Jefferson's draft that denounced the slave trade before approving the document. At the time independence was declared, all 13 rebellious colonies permitted slavery, and 41 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence owned slaves.

Why It Matters

Walter Isaacson's work focuses on a foundational document of the United States, detailing its authorship and intellectual underpinnings. The Declaration of Independence established principles that have been referenced in subsequent historical addresses. The document's drafting process involved debate and revision, including changes made by Benjamin Franklin and the removal of a section addressing the slave trade, which reflects the period's complex social and political landscape.