Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Male: I'm here with Walter Isaacson and
what are we about to talk about?
Walter: We're talking about the Declaration
of Independence, which happens, as it says up top,
on July 4, 1776, but what we have to remember
is that for more than a year, since April 1775 there
had been a lot of fighting going on.
There was a revolution happening,
but up until this point the fighting was mainly
against what they considered to be the acts
of Parliament and Parliament's ministers and taxing
the colonies.
Finally, with this document they decide
they're going to become ...
The American colonies are going to become
free and independent, a separate country,
which means rebelling against the King himself,
George the III.
Male: And this is George the III in all of his regality.
(laughing)
Walter: Right. You know up until they met
in Congress with the Continental Congress
gathering themselves together they pretended
at least to respect George the III, and they were
blaming everything on the British Parliament,
but it was a pretty difficult thing to decide you
were going to overthrow the King himself.
Male: And just to be clear,
this Continental Congress it's easy now
for us in hindsight.
It seems like a very official thing,
but this was really a rebel congress.
It wasn't sanctioned in any way by
kind of the formal government,
by the government of Great Britain.
Walter: Right, and as you see it says the 13
United States of America.
This is the first time they really start using
the phrase United States of America.
They weren't really a country yet.
They were 13 different colonies,
and not all of them wanted to come to
this Continental Congress.
Getting them all together was quite difficult.
They do so partly to help George Washington's
troops get funded because they've started the
skirmishes up in Lexington and Concord and Massachusetts,
but by 1776 George Washington has a real army
and they have to fund him, and eventually they'd
figure out well this congress ought to decide are
we really having a revolution?
Are we trying to break away from the King himself?
And the answer here is yes.
Male: Wow. And so this is the beginning
of the Declaration of Independence
and these three fellows on the right-hand side
look very familiar.
Walter: They're on the committee that the Congress
appoints to draft the Declaration.
Actually there were five people on the committee,
but these of course are the three most important.
Thomas Jefferson only 33 years old, by far the
youngest person on the committee
and he's chosen to write the first draft.
Then Benjamin Franklin, who is a mentor
of Jefferson's, a printer from Philadelphia.
Franklin had just been spending the past two decades almost
going back and forth to England to try to prevent
a revolution.
Then John Adams, the very passionate sage from
the State of Massachusetts who was the one who
was most in favor of revolution.
In fact, when Franklin comes back
to Philadelphia in early 1776 after having tried
to hold Britain and America together most of these
people didn't know whether he would be on the side
of revolution or not.
In fact, his own son, William Franklin,
is, at this time of this Declaration,
the Royal Governor of New Jersey
and is staying loyal to King George.
Male: And just to, once again emphasize the context,
the Royal Governor of New Jersey.
This wasn't like the Governor of New Jersey
we imagine now.
He wasn't elected by the people.
He was appointed.
Walter: No, he was appointed by the King.
He was the Royal Governor, and you know
Franklin was proud of his son, but they have
this incredible split starting in 1776 where
William Franklin remains loyal to the crown
and loyal to King George the III who had
made him Governor of New Jersey.
Male: Now, one thing that you had mentioned
a few seconds ago that I think is surprising
is when you mentioned that Jefferson was 33 years
old when he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
How normal was that?
You know back then it seemed like people
did I guess mature faster, but he was
still perceived as a fairly young person.
Walter: Yes. They all loved to be thinking
of themselves as young rebels too.
In fact, Jefferson I think is the second youngest
person in the Continental Congress,
but there was a third person who lied about his age
to pretend to be younger and actually wasn't.
Jefferson was a good wordsmith.
He was from Virginia and it was very important
of this person from ...
Franklin from Pennsylvania and Adams from
Massachusetts to make sure we got Virginia in
because Virginia, there was a chance it would
remain loyal and ...
Male: It was a large wealthy ...
Walter: A large wealthy land-owning colony
and so getting the Virginians in, and there were
very strong rebels from Virginia.
The Lees of Virginia as well as Jefferson were
in favor of declaring independence
so they decide they want to make sure that Jefferson
gets to write the first draft.
Male: Interesting.
And so what we see here, this is the final text.
This is the official Declaration of Independence.
Walter: Right.
Male: In the future videos we can talk about previous
drafts.
Walter: Right. They went through five drafts
to get to this draft and this is the
one that they do after unaninously
all 13 colonies, now called the 13 United States
in this document, declare this to be the cause
of the colonies.
And what you can see in the first paragraph
is they have to explain why are we writing this document.
They say well if you're going to have a revolution,
if you're going to dissolve the political bands
which have connected you with another state, then
the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle
them a decent respect.
This is the equal station they get because of nature
and nature's God.
It's a pretty interesting phrase.
Male: Let's read the whole thing.
Walter: Yeah.
Male: "When in the course of human events
it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political bands," this is what you were talking about,
"which have connected them with another
and to assume among the powers of the earth
the separate and equal station which the laws of nature
and of nature's God entitle them."
Walter: What they're saying right there
is that the laws of nature and the fact that
nature's God created us all equally means that
one set of people don't have to be subserviant to
or occupied by or colonies of another set of people.
They want to be free and independent,
and it's interesting that they use the phrase,
"Laws of nature and nature's God," because this is
sort of the beginning of the enlightenment where
we're supposed to understand that nature
gives us our rights and reasons.
John Locke, the great British philosopher,
believed in the laws of nature, and these
were deists.
They kind of were religious a bit, but they didn't
subscribe to any particular religious dogma,
and so they just talk about nature's God allowing
us all to be free and equal.
Male: Right.
"A decent respect to the opinions of mankind
requires that they should declare the causes
which impel them to a separation."
So that's really just saying ...
Walter: What they're saying is we care what the
rest of you think.
And by the way, it's directed at one particular people,
the French, because we're not going to win
this revolution in the United States unless
the French help support us.
The French, by the way, were already at war
with the British.
There's been a long set of wars throughout
the 18th century where France and Britian
were fighting each other.
So, this document is particularly aimed
at saying to the French, you've been fighting
Britain for a long time so we have a decent respect
for all the opinions of mankind, but yours in particular
and we're going to tell you why we're fighting this
and of course in France at the time this notion of liberty,
equality, fraternity, that's bubbling up as well.
So, the document is to try to persuade other
nations please support us.
We're explaining why we're having this revolution.
Male: And that's I think important to remember
for someone in 21st century America.
It's obviously a major world power now,
the major world power.
But back then this was like a little colony.
It's kind of a sideshow.
Walter: Right, right.
And it's important for us to remember now too
that whenever we do something, whenever
we get involved in the world we should have
a decent respect to the opinions of mankind.
Male: Right.
Walter: That's how we started as a nation saying
when we do something we're going to be open.
We're going to be honest.
We're going to explain to you why.