As we all learned in our American History courses (in my school system, that was 5th, 7th and 11th grades), the Declaration of Independence was written and signed during the meeting of the Second Continental Congress. You may recall that on June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed a resolution stating 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 is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

Strong words indeed. And, as we all know, King George took a dim view of this action by the colonial upstarts. Four days after the resolution for independence was introduced, a young fellow Virginian named Thomas Jefferson, along with Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and John Adams of Massachusetts, was tasked with drafting a formal statement, justifying the 13 American colonies’ break with Great Britain.

Jefferson was the principal author and gets the most credit. And while there’s no doubt Sherman and Livingston probably added their two cents to the project, history has it that linguistic Tom primarily asked elder statesmen Franklin and Adams for their input and edits before submitting the Declaration of Independence to Congress for approval.

While no verbatim record of discussions between the men involved in creating the document has ever surfaced, it’s highly probable that animated conversations took place, especially between Tom, Ben, and John. I can’t help but imagine those three cooped up in a hot Philadelphia hotel room. For some reason, I see the devil-may-care Franklin wearing shorts and a “George III is Crazy as a Loon!” T-shirt, but the other two were no doubt sweltering in their regular breeches and waistcoats.

Perhaps their conversations included this type of banter:

JOHN: Can’t we please open a window? It’s hot as fire in here!

TOM: No, we can’t. We don’t want anyone to hear our discussions.

BEN: I’m quite comfortable. Although I could use a cool tankard of ale. Anybody else?

TOM: Not yet, Ben. It’s not even noon.

BEN: And yet I’ve already built up a powerful thirst.

JOHN: I thought you were going to invent something to help with this heat.

BEN: Patience, John! I’ve laid the groundwork for electricity. Someone else will have to figure out the rest.

TOM: Gentlemen, can we please get back to our task?

JOHN: Right. Where were we?

BEN: I think we were going to start with, “We the People.”

TOM: Yeah, I’ve had second thoughts about that. I think I’d like to save that phrase for something later on.

JOHN: But it IS rather catchy.

TOM: True. But I think we need to be a little more direct, more in the moment. Something such as, “When in the course of human events….”

BEN: Hmmm. I like that. Has a nice feel of earth-shaking importance.

JOHN: We’re going to need some specifics as to why we’re doing this.

BEN: You mean besides the fact that the King is a blithering idiot?

JOHN: Yes, well, that’s a given.

TOM: I’ve got a list of 25 or so grievances. Take a look and see what you think.

JOHN: Let’s see . . . tyranny, plundering our seas, suspending our legislatures . . . all good.

BEN: Quartering troops! That’s a real burr under everyone’s saddle. And those onerous taxes without representation! I think you’ve done a good job here, Tom.

JOHN: I agree. I don’t suppose we should add he’s totally mad, should we?

TOM: Probably best not to get too personal.

BEN: Right. Even though this T-shirt I’m wearing is selling like hotcakes.

JOHN: Did you print those up?

BEN: I may have.

TOM: How does this sound? “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.”

JOHN: That’s brilliant, Tom! Well done.

BEN: Sounds good. But is it “unalienable” or “inalienable”?

TOM: Yeah, I wrestled with that.

BEN: Ah, well, potato, po-tah-to, as the King would say. And speaking of potatoes, is anyone else hungry? Or perhaps thirsty?

JOHN: Okay, we’ll break for lunch, Ben.

BEN: Excellent. I know a wonderful little tavern just down the street. Charming barmaids and generous pours.

TOM: All right then. I need some new quills any way. We’ll get back to this after we eat.

BEN: Hey, why don’t we get some fireworks too? I have a gut feeling there’s soon going to be something really big to celebrate.

©MMXXIII. William J. Lewis, III – Freelance Writer