To view the digital exhibit, visit jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu/declaration-of-independence/.
The exhibit consists of two primary elements that enable the visitor to follow the evolution of Declaration from its first draft into the form adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
One branch allows the visitor to move through the different stages of the writing and revision of the Declaration by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and the other members of the drafting committee and by the Congress as a body to reach the final version of the text as it was announced to the world.
The other branch unpacks Jefferson’s use of existing texts in drafting the statement of rights in the opening section of the Declaration, the list of grievances against the British government in the main body of the document, and the resolution proclaiming independence in its closing paragraph.
Both sections allow visitors to examine the multiple layers of the document’s creation.
This digital exhibit was created by the Papers of Thomas Jefferson with assistance from the Center for Digital Editing at the University of Virginia. The Jefferson Papers edition is supported in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and previously by grants from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) of the National Archives.
