Who REALLY wrote the Declaration of Independence? | History Mystery

History Mystery Episode 2: Who REALLY wrote the Declaration of Independence?

0:00 Intro
4:11 Plagiarism?
9:50 "The" Declaration
13:26 Was Jefferson's original?

Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Gordon S. Wood
The Pontification of Washington’s Promulgatory Rhetoric.
Use of rhyme in public policy 1789-1797
Hoyt, Mecklenburg Declaration
“Part III: the Mecklenburg Declaration…”. Charlotte Mecklenburg Library
“The Mecklenburg Controversy…” The Charlotte Museum of History
The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams (Chapel Hill, 1988).
The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. Archibald Henderson. 1912.
The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. 1918. Archibald Henderson
Thomas Jefferson: Author of America. Christopher Hitchens. 2009
Jefferson & Adams: Founding Frenemies. 2016. Last update Jan. 15 2020
John Adams, David McCullough.
John Adams to Roger Sherman, 18 July 1789
John Adams, Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United State 1787Works 5:453--59
The First American. HW Brands.
LOC. Thomas Jefferson. (1743-1826)
Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Frederick Douglass 1852. What to the slave is the 4th of July?
Adams letter to Hugh Williamson February 6, 1785
[Fryday May 10. 1776.] [from the Autobiography of John Adams]
V. Preamble to Resolution on Independent Governments, 15 May 1776
The Creation of the American Republic 1776-1787.
National Archives and Records Administration. Exhibit Declaration Independence Resolution.
Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence. Monticello.
From Thomas Jefferson to Henry Lee, 8 May 1825
The Virginia Declaration of Rights
James Wilson and the American Founding, WILLIAM EWALD
"Self-Evident". The Atlantic. 2008.
Jefferson's "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence. LOC

For comparison of the American Declaration and the Mecklenburg, see sources in captions, as well as this:
The common phrasing is striking;
American Declaration: "dissolve the political bands which have connected them",
Mecklenburg Declaration: “dissolve the political bands which have connected us”
American: "are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States"
Mecklenburg: “are and of right out to be a sovereign and self-governing Association”
American: "absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British Crown"
Mecklenburg: “absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British Crown”
American "pledge to each other, our mutual cooperation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor"
Mecklenburg: “pledge to each other out mutual cooperation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor”.

Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images.

#HistoryMystery #AmericanHistory #ExploringHistory

[iammrbeat]

We all plagiarize to a certain degree, I suppose. To assume Jefferson pulled all those thoughts out of his head is silly. Well done with this!

[williamcfox]

This history mystery (especially the Mecklenburg stuff) was inspired by a fun pop history book: Friends Divided by Gordon S. Wood. It focuses on the rivalry and competing legacies of Jefferson and Adams. I saw the book at tourist spots in Washington, D.C., and I ended up reading it over a holiday weekend last year. Full sourcing in description.

[Arlae_Nova]

The Netherlands. The Netherlands wrote the declaration of independence

[tacitdionysus]

An excellent presentation of the subject. I used to teach a similar subject to upcoming managers in a state government department in Australia. It would start way back with contrasting Platonic and Aristotelian concepts of politics, progress through to Hobbes and Locke, and use the US Declaration of Independence as an application of the latter. IMHO the genius of the Declaration was to use the language of the British Glorious Revolution to justify and explain why independence was needed. A possible lost opportunity is that, with cooler heads involved all round, it might have been negotiable without an ensuring war that's an even deeper rabbit hole.

Which brings me to the Australian Constitution. In the 'Tenterfield oration' by Henry Parkes, one of the founding fathers in the lead up to Federation and the Constitution said, "To make myself as plain as possible, Australia has now a population of three and a half millions, and the American people numbered only between three and four millions when they formed the great Commonwealth of the United States. The numbers are about the same. Surely what the Americans have done by war, Australians can bring about in peace." 

Some of the founding fathers talked with the great US Jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes (not to be confused with Oliver Wendell Douglas) and basically put the question "Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently in the US Constitution?" What an interesting conversation that must have been. One result was that Australian Senators have always been elected by the people, not appointed by the states as they were in the USA until the 17th Amendment in 1913. I don't think there was much discussion about electoral colleges though.

[anuzis]

Didn't expect to find this topic so interesting, but Exploring History brings it to life. Appreciate the great work you do.

[herrikudo]

"If someone said it best already, why try to say it better?" -American History X

[shanemize]

This was really well done. It's good for folks to know that the Founders weren't perfect. They were real people who lived in their times and dealt with real issues. I can't imagine having to sign my own death sentence for the sake of the freedom of my nation and the freedom of people around the world for generations to come. The members of that committee and of the Congress knew that they were going to die as traitors to the Crown, if the war wasn't won, and it was very much in doubt when Jefferson wrote the Declaration. They were brave beyond brave. Thank God for them. Good job on this video and all of the research that went into it.

[SeppukuPlatinum]

loved the concluding thoughts in this one.

no pseudo depth

no glorification or romanticization

genuinely love your videos, great work as always!

[RisenChudJr]

I really like the lighting in this one. Good work, Will.

[xof]

The Declaration of Arbroath is another fascinating document and has been recognised (though disputed by some historians) as an inspirational text for the deceleration of independence. Written in 1320, it was a letter to the pope by King Robert the Bruce and other Scottish nobles asserting Scottish independence from the English, who at the time had been occupying Scotland. It contains a lot of lines that seem ahead of its time, talking about how the king can be removed if not serving the people and lots of talk of freedom. One of my favorite lines is as follows "Because, while a hundred of us remain alive, we will not submit in the slightest measure, to the domination of the English. We do not fight for honour, riches, or glory, but solely for freedom which no true man gives up but with his life."

[ketutardika]

Hello mr.. I have 1 coin Declaration of independence 1776-1976. What can ip do for this coin. Bali indonesia

[RichardKoenigsberg]

I just watched your documentary on Lenin and the 1918 revolution, or mass-murder. YOU CAN'T OVER-ROMANTICIZE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. So different than the Russian Revolution. The greatness of the American document.

[danielafreedman]

Thomas Paine, without a doubt, was the true author of the American Declaration of Independence! Two copies, one by Jefferson and one by John Adams are now housed at the Massachusetts Historical Society. This note from John Adams is also there: "A beginning perhaps--Original with Jefferson--Copied from original with T.P.'s permission." A computer analysis was conducted of the document by the University of Abeerdeen. It revealed 97% Paine less then 2% Jefferson.

[macvena]

Plagiarism is stealing words, ideas, or literary works by passing them off as your creation. Writing that is influenced, derivative, or contributed to, is not plagiarism. Jefferson (upon request) merely drafted a statement, which was heavily edited, by the Congress, because it was a collective statement. The very first outside edit was by Ben Franklin (self-evident). Mr. Lee's earlier proposed statement of independence was knowingly incorporated into the Declaration, because that was the main point of the "Declaration of Independence".

The plagiarism thesis is rubbish! The ideas, words, reasoning were a joint message! People in this era, in that place were constantly conferring, elaborating on the ideas of the times.
Jefferson incorporated many ideas, statements, into an eloquent and cogent argument that reflected the sentiments of many contemporary representatives.

[kevinsmith]

Are you saying Dr. Scott lied to us...

[Richardtv]

It is a shame they never mention the fact that they used many parts of the Dutch “Plakkaat van Verlatinghe” of 1581 in which the Dutch declared themselves independant from the Spanish King Fillips II. So, it is a downright lie that there wasn’t an older indepence declaration. That Dutch declaration is considered to be a groundbreaking document for the history of self-determination and basic human rigths. It is funny how that important part is just left out when mentioning The Declaration of Independence ….. not nice or fair, but certainly historically incorrect and false not mentioning it.

[juliuspimentel]

All people ate plagiarist. We read books...these books are created billion years ago and it evolve....

[WritingGeekNL]

It was written by the Dutch men, most notably Jan van Asseliers.
It is known as the Act of Abjuration (Plakkaat van Verlatinghe).
Just kidding of course, but I thought it is a fun fact, that the Plakkaat might have influenced the Declaration. Since they have a lot of similarities and the early American era had a lot of Dutch influences.

[sigupmj]

Tsk tsk - I mean everybody knows it was Nicholas Cage, right? 😅

[RichardKoenigsberg]

But what about the DECLARATION itself. This is where the meat is. The proof of the pudding is in the document.