Editing Declaration of Independence (section)

== Drafting and Revision ==

Jefferson's draft drew on several intellectual traditions. The language of natural rights and social contract theory echoed the writings of John Locke and other Enlightenment philosophers. The specific grievances against King George III followed a tradition of English constitutional argument dating to the Magna Carta. Jefferson also borrowed from his own earlier work, particularly the preamble to the Virginia Constitution he had drafted weeks before. The opening passages establishing the philosophical basis for independence—the equality of all men, their natural rights, and the right to alter or abolish governments that violate those rights—represented Jefferson's synthesis of ideas circulating throughout the Atlantic world.<ref name="wills">{{cite book |last=Wills |first=Garry |title=Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence |year=1978 |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, NY}}</ref>

The Committee of Five reviewed Jefferson's draft and suggested revisions, with Franklin and Adams making the most significant changes. The committee's draft was then submitted to Congress on June 28, 1776. On July 2, Congress voted to approve Lee's resolution for independence—the actual moment of legal separation from Britain. Over the next two days, Congress debated the Declaration's text, making substantial revisions. Most notably, Congress deleted Jefferson's denunciation of the slave trade, which blamed King George for imposing slavery on the colonies—a passage that delegates from Georgia and South Carolina found objectionable and that Northern delegates engaged in the slave trade could not credibly support. Jefferson later complained about Congress's editing, but the revisions generally strengthened the document.<ref name="maier"/>