Could please us more in virginia to be reminded, if you will, about our initial associations with massachusetts. Yes, patriots day is something that we are happy to be reminded of, as i know all of our friends in massachusetts continue to be reminded of that occasion in which the citizen body there stood staunchly against the further encroachments of the british upon their rights, upon their property. If i remember, it occurred in three particular villages. Lexington and concord, and let it not be forgotten, menotomy. I believe that they now refer to menotomy as arlington. And i hope it is not forgotten because that is the one of the three where the british actually surrendered. I think they lost about 25 souls that day, but, overall, amongst the three villages, 500 british lost their lives. I was here at monticello, and i started on my way to williamsburg. From williamsburg, i was then going to journey to philadelphia for the second Continental Congress. Well, i had been very much, at that time, in the spring of 1775, considering to remain an englishman. I was proud of it. I did not care for independency. I desired to continue dependency. Great britain provided a safety and defense, particularly on the frontier. But it was that day in april of 1775 which i will never forget. Cut all the sense and concerns for reconciliation, and in its place, caused a frenzy of revenge, which was seized by all ranks of the people. That was the day, if you will, that i decided to cross the rubicon. And i think so many of us as well decided here in virginia we would ally ourselves further with massachusetts bay. Your next question, mr. Light . Mr. Light yes, mr. President , some may not realize that more than a year passed between the opening shots of the revolution at lexington and concord and the adoption of the declaration of independence. Why did it take so long . Thomas jefferson you asked me, why did it take so long for us to begin to react, if you will, to what occurred in massachusetts that spring of 1775 to what eventually became the decision to pronounce ourselves free and independent of Great Britain. Well, as you know, history and improvement and progress is never lineal. Things take time. May i be seated, if you will . Thank you. Thank you, mr. Light. I recall when john adams and i many years later had a conversation about when the American Revolution actually began. Mr. Adams said he recalled it began for him by bearing witness to the protests of his cousin, sam adams, there in boston. It was in protest of the stamp act. That was march of 1765. Well, i immediately replied to him, mr. Adams, i remember at the same time, march of 1765 in williamsburg, virginia, the protest of Patrick Henry in opposition to the stamp act. Mr. Adams then looked at me as i looked at him, and we realized the American Revolution had begun 10 years before lexington and concord. It began in the minds of americans. So, you asked for that period of one year before we proclaimed independency after we learned of the actions at lexington, concord, and menotomy. Well, i can tell you that, when we gathered in philadelphia that spring of 1775 for the second Continental Congress, we decided immediately we must come together strong with an army, arm ourselves, so all of the various colonial militias came together to form an american army. And then i am proud to recall that we had to commission a general of our american army. The very first time that we commissioned a general. As englishmen born in the colonies of Great Britain, we could never rise to the rank of a general. We could only be colonels of militia. And so, we commissioned colonel George Washington to be our general. We then of course wrote a petition declaring we had the necessity to take up arms. I was invited to write it, though i was somewhat harsh in my writing, and so, they gave it to John Dickinson to refine. And then, they asked me to write an Olive Branch Petition and answer to lord norths proposals for reconciliation. I was a bit more amenable in those jottings. So we sent both to Great Britain and waited for the reply of parliament. And we waited. And we waited, through the autumn and through the winter of 1775 and 1776. There was no reply from parliament, except what we read in english newspapers, to wit, i quote, these colonies are now officially in a state of rebellion. And so it was that virginia decided she would be the first, the first to proclaim her independency. And so, on the 15th of may, 1776 i beg your pardon, citizens, a virginian would always like to think they are the first at anything. Virginia was not the first to proclaim her independency. It was rhode island. Rhode island about a month before, in april of 1776, proclaimed her independency, though solely on behalf of herself. A month later, virginia provided the resolution for independency on behalf of all of our colonies. Next question, mr. Light. Mr. Light yes, we are curious, how were you chosen to write the declaration of independence . Thomas jefferson oh, you asked how i was chosen to be the author of our declaration. Well, first, of course, we had to decide how we would react to the resolution of virginia for independency. That was read by my countryman, colonel Richard Henry lee. If i remember, it was the 7th of june they had the Continental Congress in philadelphia. Well, it caused an immediate consternation, particularly amongst the smaller colonies, rhode island included, let alone delaware. How would they be expected to follow the resolution of virginia . We considered ourselves the largest, the most populated, the wealthiest. So president john hancock created the entire Continental Congress as a committee of the whole, to gather amongst ourselves in individual caucuses and decide how we should proceed. Do we really want independency . And then he appointed another committee of five men to draft our declaration of american independency. Now, mind you, this was not a fait accompli. We did not know that the congress would vote for independency, but we wanted to be prepared. Now, of the five men appointed to the committee, well, reflect for a moment, mr. John adams was from, thats right, massachusetts. Mr. Roger sherman, connecticut. Robert r. Livingston from new york. Dr. Franklin, pennsylvania. And mr. Jefferson, virginia. I was the only one on the committee south of the line drawn by messrs. Mason and dixon. Now, we all hoped that dr. Franklin would be the author. He was our mentor, our elder, but franklin, oh, he cared not to take on that responsibility. I think he replied, gentlemen, i care not for anything else i may write to receive the scrutiny of a committee. He looked at me, and it was mr. Adams, john adams, who suggested i be the author. Well, i said, no, mr. Adams, you must write it. He said, oh, no, you must write it. I said, no, you. And mr. Adams replied, i am generally considered obnoxious, disliked. No, you have quite the flair for fluid and felicitous writing. I think you should write it. Besides that, he said, a virginian ought to be at the head of this business. You asked me what sources of thracian did i draw upon in drafting our declaration. Firstly i would tell you that i write on this slope, if you will. You can even refer to it as a laptop. Was is my design and it andted by my cousin in 1775 1776. This, not ton write anything new or original. Ive groupon the sources of the code of the sixth century. I drew on the cold of the writings of john locke. I grew on mr. Thomas paynes pamphlet, common sense. Providedis together foundation. Nonetheless, the virginia declaration of rights written by george mason, he wrote that virginia declaration of rights at the same time that i was writing our declaration of american independence. A further question, if you will. How long did it take you to draft the document . Jefferson if i can recall, it took me some time, you asked me how long it took me to write the declaration. I believe it took me three days. Three days to write that declaration. In fact, i have here one of the first drafts. There will there were several drafts. Three days to write the declaration on four sheets of paper. Many of you are wondering, mr. Jefferson, that is quite a long time to simply write a declaration of independence as you just said, everything was there for you to utilize. You are not designed to put forth anything original. Citizens, i will tell you i am guilty of something that you all are guilty of. Yes, not one of us can escape. I make mistakes and it is not ink. To erase when i go back over what i wrote, i would cross out what i do not care for. I would write the correction above or beneath and i would transcribe that late in the evening and the next day i would make more mistakes. That continued for three days. Then i had to hand my draft to the other four gentlemen, to the committee. They were extensive hours of labor. There in that little room on the second floor of the newly built brick townhouse in philadelphia city. I believe it was on the Southwest Corner of 7th street and high street. I believe they call high Street Market street now in little for. Thank you, mr. Light for bringing back those memories. Next question, sir. President , you were aware thatas a young man property was enslaved to you. Did this status of owning property declare how rich he was . Jefferson mr. Light, you asked me about Robert Hemmings who accompanied me to 1775delphia those years of and 1776. Do i remember him . Do i consider that he was my property as his family where my property . Contradictionle to the principles of our declaration. Mr. Light, i can assure you that i had inherited the family from my late wife. They were part of her dowry. 1772became my property in when primary her. And if you will when i married her. In 1775 Robert Hemmings was my coachman and he drove me to philadelphia. Do you know he was only 15 years old at that time . As we entered the city, one of my first interests was to have him inoculated against smallpox. Thatd a doctor to pursue knock elation. The doctor had inoculated me 10 years earlier. In 1776. Turned he remembers all of those individuals, all of those who met there in the old statehouse in philadelphia. He knew who they were. He perhaps knew more about them than i did. He continued to be my coachman until i went to france and after five years, returning here to monticello in 1782 and 1789i learned that he had married. He married a woman living in fredericksburg. Her name was dolly. Robert accompanied me the following year, 1790, when we went to new york. That was where our government was first under the constitution. About during that time 1790, that robert desired to live with his wife. She had moved to richmond at that time and he went to richmond to be with her and he ,ecame acquainted with a doctor dr. Stross i believe his name was. He was of german lineage. Seven years later, robert asked if he might be with his wife entirely, that he might be free. And so it was, yes, i think it was christmas eve, 1794i man u minted robert demings. I freed him. He was the first of all of my people that i freed. Would that there could have been many more. Was all ime if this contradiction to our declaration of american independence. Of course it is. We all know it is. That not one of our generation will live to scene us own up to these principles that we might all be free, each and every one of us under the eyes of nature and natures god. We are born into the laws of man. Contradictionc that the future would judge us most harshly. Next question, mr. Light. What did the declaration mean . N 1776 jefferson it meant to be a recognition of what i just referred to as the natural rights of man, the inherit rights of man, the rights that are given to mankind by nature and natures god. Everyone is entitled to this and this is why governments are created, in order to protect and defend these in here at rights of every individual inherit rights. Gain an improvement and progress is never lineal and this is what we continue to debate. We desire to put this before the and simple form in terms of, an expression of the American Mind and thereby gain the assent accordingly of man. Do you have another question for me . How will future generations view the declaration of independence . Thomas jefferson you ask me how do i hope future generations will look back on our declaration of american independence, how they will judge us. I answer that i hope future generations will continue to read our declaration of american independence. There were many people who could not read when i wrote that document. I am hopeful that in the future we may have a universal system of education so that everyone will have that opportunity and read our declaration. I wrote it in order that it could be publicly read and let us never forget those occasions. Let us look forward in the future to a continual recollection and refreshment of these rights, the inalienable rights of mankind. Let us realize that all eyes are opening and will continue to open to these rights. Will, realize, if you that that steady stream of the light of science will move us forward to recognize the palpable proof and that truth is simply that the masks of mankind had not been born with saddles on their backs nor a few ready to write him on the grace of god ride him. No, let the future continue to work and argue and debate to make the principles of our declaration universal not only for ourselves, before the family of man across the globe. Thank you, mr. Light. Citizensou, my fellow for this opportunity to enjoy our conversation today. Me, ik if you would allow should like to meet supposed writers so that i may deliver to him this letter i have just written to mr. Adams. We have been enjoying the most delightful correspondence and imagine in another six years it 1726 1826,ar an anniversary of our independency of our remarkable nation which i have always referred to as the worlds best hope. Mr. Adams and i have often had differences of opinion but we realize that a difference of opinion ought never be a difference of principle. And though he may have opinions of a particular political nature and i might have my own opinions of an opposite political nature, there was one thing that we recognize. Parting. T be known for if we are to be known by any party, let us be known simply as of 1776. T i look forward to meeting you all again. I take leave now and order to continue my communication and i look forward when we meet more personable he personable he. I remain your humble and obedient servant, thomas jefferson. Godspeed. You are watching American History tv with event coverage, eyewitness accounts, archival films, lectures in College Classrooms and visits to museums and historic places. All weekend, every weekend on cspan3. American history cspan3 exploring the events that tell the american story every weekend. Coming up this weekend, saturday at 2 00 eastern on oral history, an interview with Courtland Cox covering his time at howard university, his involvement in the student nonviolent correlating committee and serving the secretarygeneral of the 1974 and african congress. On sunday at 4 00 eastern on real america, the 1963 nbc news the American Revolution of 1963. With protests from georgia, alabama, maryland, and englewood, new jersey, chicago and brooklyn. At 7 00 p. M. , a discussion on congress, Political Parties and andrization with historians political scientists. At 8 00 p. M. On the presidency, an author talks about his book. John f. Kennedy and the 48 hours that made history. 1963 thatd 11th, defined jfks response to the Nuclear Arms Race and civil rights. Exploring the american story. Watch American History tv this weekend on cspan3. Up next, a visit to philadelphias museum of the American Revolution. In the first of a twopart program, we learn about the location and design, tour the exhibit galleries exploring the origins of the revolution. My name is michael quinn. I am the president and ceo of museum of the American Revolution. I am now standing on the plaza