full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Kenneth C. Davis: What you might not know about the Declaration of Independence
Unscramble the Blue Letters
"All men are created equal and they are endowed with the rhgtis to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Not so fast, Mr. Jefferson! These words from the Declaration of Independence, and the facts behind them, are well known. In June of 1776, a little more than a year after the war against England began with the shots fired at Lexington and Concord, the cnnnaitotel Congress was mtenieg in Philadelphia to discuss American independence. After long debates, a resolution of independence was areopvpd on July 2, 1776. America was free! And men like John Adams thought we would celebrate that date forever. But it was two days later that the gltneeemn in Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, lraelgy written by Thomas Jefferson, offering all the rsnoeas why the country should be free. More than 235 yreas later, we celebrate that day as America's birthday. But there are some pieces of the story you may not know. First of all, Thomas Jefferson gets the credit for writing the Declaration, but five men had been given the job to come up with a document explaining why aercmia should be independent: Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were all naemd first. And it was Adams who suggested that the young, and little known, Thomas Jefferson join them because they needed a man from the influential Virginia diletoaegn, and admas thought Jefferson was a much better writer than he was. Second, though Jefferson never used footnotes, or credited his sources, some of his mblomreae words and phrases were borrowed from other writers and stgillhy tweaked. Then, Franklin and Adams offered a few suggestions. But the most iotrmnpat change came after the Declaration was turned over to the full Congress. For two days, a very unhappy taomhs Jefferson sat and fumed while his words were picked over. In the end, the Congress made a few, minor word changes, and one big deletion. In the long list of charges that jefresfon made against the King of England, the author of the Declaration had included the idea that goegre the Third was responsible for the svlae trade, and was pivntnereg America from ending savelry. That was not only untrue, but Congress wanted no mention of slavery in the nation's founding doucmnet. The reference was cut out before the Declaration was approved and sent to the prnetir. But it leaves open the hard question: How could the men, who were about to sign a document, cetealnrbig liberty and equality, accept a system in which some people owned others? It is a qteouisn that would eventually bring the nation to ciivl war and one we can still ask today.
Open Cloze
"All men are created equal and they are endowed with the ______ to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Not so fast, Mr. Jefferson! These words from the Declaration of Independence, and the facts behind them, are well known. In June of 1776, a little more than a year after the war against England began with the shots fired at Lexington and Concord, the ___________ Congress was _______ in Philadelphia to discuss American independence. After long debates, a resolution of independence was ________ on July 2, 1776. America was free! And men like John Adams thought we would celebrate that date forever. But it was two days later that the _________ in Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, _______ written by Thomas Jefferson, offering all the _______ why the country should be free. More than 235 _____ later, we celebrate that day as America's birthday. But there are some pieces of the story you may not know. First of all, Thomas Jefferson gets the credit for writing the Declaration, but five men had been given the job to come up with a document explaining why _______ should be independent: Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were all _____ first. And it was Adams who suggested that the young, and little known, Thomas Jefferson join them because they needed a man from the influential Virginia __________, and _____ thought Jefferson was a much better writer than he was. Second, though Jefferson never used footnotes, or credited his sources, some of his _________ words and phrases were borrowed from other writers and ________ tweaked. Then, Franklin and Adams offered a few suggestions. But the most _________ change came after the Declaration was turned over to the full Congress. For two days, a very unhappy ______ Jefferson sat and fumed while his words were picked over. In the end, the Congress made a few, minor word changes, and one big deletion. In the long list of charges that _________ made against the King of England, the author of the Declaration had included the idea that ______ the Third was responsible for the _____ trade, and was __________ America from ending _______. That was not only untrue, but Congress wanted no mention of slavery in the nation's founding ________. The reference was cut out before the Declaration was approved and sent to the _______. But it leaves open the hard question: How could the men, who were about to sign a document, ___________ liberty and equality, accept a system in which some people owned others? It is a ________ that would eventually bring the nation to _____ war and one we can still ask today.
Solution
- celebrating
- george
- thomas
- civil
- slightly
- preventing
- america
- question
- named
- meeting
- approved
- jefferson
- continental
- years
- slavery
- document
- adams
- gentlemen
- largely
- memorable
- reasons
- delegation
- rights
- important
- slave
- printer
Original Text
"All men are created equal and they are endowed with the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Not so fast, Mr. Jefferson! These words from the Declaration of Independence, and the facts behind them, are well known. In June of 1776, a little more than a year after the war against England began with the shots fired at Lexington and Concord, the Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia to discuss American independence. After long debates, a resolution of independence was approved on July 2, 1776. America was free! And men like John Adams thought we would celebrate that date forever. But it was two days later that the gentlemen in Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, largely written by Thomas Jefferson, offering all the reasons why the country should be free. More than 235 years later, we celebrate that day as America's birthday. But there are some pieces of the story you may not know. First of all, Thomas Jefferson gets the credit for writing the Declaration, but five men had been given the job to come up with a document explaining why America should be independent: Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were all named first. And it was Adams who suggested that the young, and little known, Thomas Jefferson join them because they needed a man from the influential Virginia Delegation, and Adams thought Jefferson was a much better writer than he was. Second, though Jefferson never used footnotes, or credited his sources, some of his memorable words and phrases were borrowed from other writers and slightly tweaked. Then, Franklin and Adams offered a few suggestions. But the most important change came after the Declaration was turned over to the full Congress. For two days, a very unhappy Thomas Jefferson sat and fumed while his words were picked over. In the end, the Congress made a few, minor word changes, and one big deletion. In the long list of charges that Jefferson made against the King of England, the author of the Declaration had included the idea that George the Third was responsible for the slave trade, and was preventing America from ending slavery. That was not only untrue, but Congress wanted no mention of slavery in the nation's founding document. The reference was cut out before the Declaration was approved and sent to the printer. But it leaves open the hard question: How could the men, who were about to sign a document, celebrating liberty and equality, accept a system in which some people owned others? It is a question that would eventually bring the nation to civil war and one we can still ask today.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
collocation |
frequency |
thomas jefferson |
3 |
john adams |
2 |
adams thought |
2 |
Important Words
- accept
- adams
- adopt
- america
- american
- approved
- author
- began
- benjamin
- big
- birthday
- borrowed
- bring
- celebrate
- celebrating
- change
- charges
- civil
- concord
- congress
- continental
- country
- created
- credit
- credited
- cut
- date
- day
- days
- debates
- declaration
- delegation
- deletion
- discuss
- document
- endowed
- england
- equal
- equality
- eventually
- explaining
- facts
- fast
- fired
- footnotes
- founding
- franklin
- free
- full
- fumed
- gentlemen
- george
- happiness
- hard
- idea
- important
- included
- independence
- influential
- jefferson
- job
- john
- join
- july
- june
- king
- largely
- leaves
- lexington
- liberty
- life
- list
- livingston
- long
- man
- meeting
- memorable
- men
- mention
- minor
- named
- nation
- needed
- offered
- offering
- open
- owned
- people
- philadelphia
- phrases
- picked
- pieces
- preventing
- printer
- pursuit
- question
- reasons
- reference
- resolution
- responsible
- rights
- robert
- roger
- sat
- sherman
- shots
- sign
- slave
- slavery
- slightly
- sources
- story
- suggested
- suggestions
- system
- thomas
- thought
- today
- trade
- turned
- tweaked
- unhappy
- untrue
- virginia
- voted
- wanted
- war
- word
- words
- writer
- writers
- writing
- written
- year
- years
- young