Story about five boys kidnapped in the north and smuggled into slavery in the south. Toir daring attempt to try bring their captors to justice is being published by Simon Schuster in october. Thank you once again for joining us this evening and please welcome me in joining dr. Rick bell. [applause] bell thanks to heather, thanks to cspan for covering this. Those of you who might have been to the smithsonian before wont be surprised to hear my strange accent, which is not exactly a maryland natives accent. I was born and raised in england , yet find myself teaching about the American Revolution as part of my job, which is a blessing and a curse in an undergraduate classroom, to teach with an accent like this. I am very proud of where i grew up. I often carry in my back pocket a giant british flag [laughter] dr. Bell which i might drape around the scenery for cspan to drink in. But i was also naturalized as a u. S. Citizen a couple of years ago, something i am incredibly proud of, so it is wonderful to be part of the programming as we move into the july 4 weekend. When you hear me say our declaration, i am talking about us americans. The downside of cspan being here, unfortunately, is that i dont get to swear. [laughter] dr. Bell so i will try not to. It also means i dont get to show you any cute videos of my kids, or anything from hamilton the musical, for copyright reasons. But that still leaves us with a lot, and i have a lot to say, so lets get started. Wow, there is a lot of microphones here. The document on display in the National Archives that we call the declaration of independence has lived an interesting life. It has only been on display in that massive, bombproof building since 1952. There that, it lived in library of congress, though for two years during world war ii, it hunkered down in a deep vault at fort knox in kentucky. Before that, it bounced back and forth between the state department and the patent office, although during the 1876, it didck in briefly return to philadelphia, the city of its birth. Of itsa grandson of one original signers read it publicly as part of this countrys 100th birthday celebrations. Report tell us the massive crowd of people there that day burst into cheers at the side of it. Sight of it. In its first 50 years, it traveled much more frequently. When the british burned down washington, d. C. During the war of 1812, the document we think of as the declaration of independence was not there. It was hiding in leesburg, virginia. You may know that it spent the second half of the American Revolution, years earlier, rolled up and stuffed in a linen bag, as it accompanied congress from one temporary capital city to another. But, folks, i have shocking news. The document that our government has gone to such lengths to preserve and protect over the centuries, that one, is not actually the declaration of independence. Or at least that document is not the first declaration of independence, or the last declaration of independence, and it is far from being the only declaration of independence. The document on display at the national archive, the one this gentleman is peering at, is in fact a special, commemorative edition that congress ordered up at the end of july, 1776, to memorialize the independence of that the delegates that actually declared in a simple vote weeks earlier, on july 2, and who then formalized that vote in writing on july 4. The document on display in the National Archives is really a souvenir, a beautiful souvenir, made after the fact. It was engrossed on parchment in the calligraphic hand of a junior clerk named Timothy Matlack and was later signed by 56 of the delegates to the Second Continental Congress, including several who had not been present for the the actual vote, and at least one delegate who had voted against the resolution for independence. Now, this is all interesting stuff, solid, Cocktail Party trivia i am giving you so far. But to borrow a word from the declaration itself that we use to describe the declaration, all of what i have said so far is just my preamble. My talk tonight is not actually about this matlack parchment. Instead it is about all the other declarations of independence that the prominence of this lovely keepsake has obscured over the past two and a half centuries. I am thinking here of jeffersons own drafts. We have seven copies in his handwriting, and of the final version approved by congress, the one that was disseminated in print across america and across the world. I am also thinking of several other sets of declarations, some that predate july 4 by several months, others that were written much more recently, some written here, others written far away, some written by propertied, elite men like jefferson, others written by people who could not be more different to him. Putting all these declarations of independence into conversation with one another this evening will, i hope, give us some fresh perspective on the famous matlack parchment that peaks out from behind bulletproof glass in the National Archives rotunda. We can be reminded, perhaps, that for all its kitschy reliquary that people go to see, this parchment honors something unambiguously momentous. It documents the creation, adoption, and dissemination of a statement that forged the American People in union, justified their rebellion, asserted their independence and that announced this countrys appearance on the world stage. That famous statement, the declaration of independence, it is our midwife, it is our birth certificate, and it is our promise to ourselves. There is much to admire about it and therefore much to discuss, and because i want to leave time for questions and comments, we need to get going. There is a founding moment in our history. Declaring independence from Great Britain can seem to us today like this countrys first date with destiny. But it did not seem like that at the time, and declaring independence, the decision to do it, was a long, long time in coming. Open rebellion was treason, remember. And in april 1775, when new england militias took pot shots at the british army at lexington and concord, in april 1775, the number of americans contemplating unambiguous revolution could probably still have been counted on the fingers of a couple of hands. When the Second Continental Congress assembled in philadelphia a month after these events at lexington and concord in may 1775, the delegates were under instruction from their colonial legislatures to find a way to patch things up with britain. Thats what they had been sent to philadelphia to do, to patch things up. Reconciliation and redress were the order of the day. 1775, at that point, may were thinking of using that congress to foment insurrection against the monarchy, or to use it to break from the empire upon which the colonists depended for trade and security. In fact, it was actually king george iii who first declared the colonists independence for them. Here is how he did it. Here is how he did it. On august 23, 1775, the king in london issued a proclamation, the word of the king, saying the colonists had proceeded to open an avowed rebellion, and because of that, they were now outside his protection, and because of that, they should now be punished as traitors. Thats august of 1775. And in december of that year, the British Parliament acted on the kings declaration and declared war on the colonists maritime commerce, beginning a series of stop and search raids on american Merchant Shipping up and down the east coast. Britains belligerence was one of several things that finally nudged the delegates in philadelphia toward their famous written declaration. Another thing that nudged them in that direction was the appearance of a pungent new political pamphlet in january 1776. It was the work of an outcast englishman named tom payne, who had come to philadelphia to start again, and it told readers that it was common sense for the colonists to respond to georges bullying by walking away and starting fresh. Tom paynes cheap 46 page pamphlet sold like like hotcakes and quickly made its way into the pockets, homes, and minds of perhaps as many as 100,000 americans in the spring of 1776, and it changed people. It worked to bind people throughout the colonies into a common struggle, giving southerners a sense of common cause with new englanders for the first time, and it gave them all a common enemy, too, by laying the blame for all the chaos and trauma of the past 10 years directly at one mans , the feet of king george iii. In these ways, then, this flimsy, plainspoken little pamphlet, common sense, in many ways it was the American Peoples declaration of independence. A fact that readers across the colonies made pretty obvious over the following months. Historian demonstrated in her brilliant 1997 book, american scripture, thousands of local government officials in towns, counties and provincial legislatures spent the months after common sense was published , the spring of 1776, issuing their own miniature declarations of independence, formal statements proclaiming their commitment to separate nationhood and summarizing the chain of events that had pushed them to make that decision. Some of these local declarations of independence were short, and in your handout there is one short, one paragraph version, an example from the town of ashby, massachusetts. But others among this group of local declarations of independence were much longer, and there is one in your handout that runs several paragraphs, from buckingham county, virginia. But all these local declarations said the same. In justifying their support for independence, they came back again and again to the kings contempt for the colonists petitions for reconciliation. They came back to the threat posed by the fleets and armies he had already sent to repress and divide them. They came back again and again to the nowescalating rumors that the British Government had recently dispatched a large, invading force of german hessian mercenaries to the colonies. Polly and maia, who wrote american scripture, identified 90 of these state and local declarations of independence, and she reckons there were many more that have not yet been rediscovered. They were written to put pressure on the often cautious delegates of the Second Continental Congress, so that those delegates in philadelphia might find the courage to embrace the cause of independence and sever all ties with britain. They soon began getting attention. As john adams, one of those delegates in pennsylvania, observed on may 20, every post and every day roles in upon us, independence like a torrent. They are writing to the andgates about independence the delegates are starting to get the message. It wasnt just john adams. Other delegates were starting to get this message from their own constituents. And on friday, june 7, 1776, this man, Richard Henry lee, a member of the virginia delegation, introduced to the Continental Congress the first formal proposal for american independence in that bodys history, a resolution to declare that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the british crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain ought to be finally dissolved. Two days of intense debate followed Richard Henry lees resolution, although the outcome of that debate may not be the result you are expecting. Richard henry lee, john adams, and other delegates in favor of independence didnt have the votes to carry the day, at least not yet. So the members did what congress has always done best, they kicked the can down the road. [laughter] dr. Bell they delayed a final vote, and they agreed instead to set up a committee to study the issue. [laughter] dr. Bell this is what they agreed. Resolved that the first revolution be postponed to this day, three weeks or so from now, est that in the meantime, l any time should be lost in case the congress does somehow agree to this revolution, a committee be appointed to prepare a declaration to the effect of the said first resolution. This is hardly the rousing, nationbursting moment that patriots might have been hoping for. Still, it was enough to keep things moving forward, and john adams himself vowed to spend those next three weeks or so lobbying his fellow delegates to vote yes when the vote for independence finally came along. John adams also agreed to serve on this new committee, a fiveperson team tasked to draft a declaration of independence that congress could quickly roll out in the event that lees original revolutionary resolution did somehow later pass. If we ever vote yes, we will need to have a declaration to show people, so we better get cracking on it. So a committee of five. The other delegates assigned to this committee, which by the way was not a plum assignment, there was probably some armtwisting involved, were Benjamin Franklin of pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of connecticut, Robert Livingston of new york, and anyone know the fifth member . [laughter] dr. Bell what was the guys name . Maybe a picture will help. Thomas jefferson of virginia. All of these guys were busy with other committee assignments, so it made sense for just one of them to take the lead in drafting the little document that they had been tasked to prepare. Benjamin franklin, a gifted stylist and zealous supporter of independence by this time, he might seem to us like the obvious choice to be the lead draftsman. He was a good writer who believed in the cause. About he was also plagued by gout at this time, and he was exhausted. Robert livingston, the fourth person across here, Robert Livingston was on the Committee Really just as the token conservative. He was not there to do actual work. He had been urging reconciliation, urging patching things up, not independence. He was really just there to make sure things didnt get too crazy and run out of hand. Roger sherman, too, the guy in the middle, was largely windowdressing. Sherman was a good man. John adams once described him as being as honest as an angel. But Roger Sherman spoke and wrote like he was still in the 17th century, and his colleagues found him strange, if not weird. [laughter] left john adams, the short lawyer who was an outspoken advocate for independence, and Thomas Jefferson, the tall, sandyhaired planter who had a reputation as a writer, but who had barely said a word on the Congress Floor so far. Adams later recalled that these two men actually bickered and argued about which one of them shouldnt do the work. [laughter] dr. Bell and who the other person should be who should lead the drafting, who should be the lead draftsman. And to reconstruct that exciting conversation, we are going to do some theater, live on cspan. I am going to call up two randomly selected volunteers. Chuck, catherine, could you come up . Yes, give them a hand of applause, a round of applause as they come up. [applause] a. Bell adams later wrote reconstruction of the conversation, the bickering and argument, that supposedly happened between Thomas Jefferson say hello, Thomas Jefferson hello, Thomas Jefferson. Dr. Bell and between why dont we move you around . You are right the first time, catherine. The conversation between Thomas Jefferson and john adams. If i am remembering correctly, the conversation began like this. Will you write . I will not. You should write it. Oh, no. Well, why not . You ought to do it. I will not. Why . Reasons enough. What can be your reasons . Reason one, you are a virginian and a virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason two, i am obnoxious, suspect, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason three, you can write 10 times better than i can. Well, if you are decided, i will do as well as i can. Very well. When you have drawn it up, we will have a meeting. Thank you. [laughter] [applause] dr. Bell that took 30 minutes of rehearsal before we got started. I want to thank chuck and catherine, who were just fabulous. The rehearsal was for technical reasons. [applause] dr. Bell now, thats the conversation, according to john adams, about the bickering. When jefferson was asked, is said,ow it happened . , he absolutely not. [laughter] dr. Bell so jeffersons lead draftsman. The five men met a few times over the next few days to outline what exactly this document should contain, but they left it to jefferson to write it up on his own, and he did as he was told. He wrote quickly, he used a portable writing desk that he brought with him from virginia, and he had a first draft done within perhaps as few as two days. Jefferson later claimed that he leaned on no other sources while he was scribbling away. Still, jefferson was already deeply versed in enlightened political philosophy, and that fact is deeply evident in the draft he came up with. The draft owes a considerable debt to several texts, including englands 1689 declaration of rights, including john lockes second treatise of civil government, published that same year, including Thomas Jeffersons own 1774 pamphlet, a summary view of the rights of british america, and his more recent draft of a constitution for virginia, and george masons virginia declaration of rights, an early copy of which jefferson had received just days earlier. The powerful opening lines of jeffersons draft drew directly from this wellspring of ideas and language. Though as you can see on screen, jeffersons language was decidedly simpler and more forceful. So here is john locke, saying let me give you two examples. But if a long train of abuses, prevarications, and artifices all tending the same way make the design visible to the people. Look for the influence in jeffersons writing. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursui