A TALE OF TWO TOM'S
There is a school of thought among scholars that Thomas Paine wrote the "Declaration of Independence," not Thomas Jefferson. Having read enough of each man's writings, I concur with that Paine sentiment, based on rhythms, phraseology, and content. Just now, I have read Paine writing the following:
"We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in. In such a cause we are sure that we are right; and we leave to you the despairing reflection of being the tool of a miserable tyrant."
P.150, "American Crisis No. 4, September 12, 1777," THOMAS PAINE: COLLECTED WRITINGS (1955)
The original 1776 "Declaration of Independence" contained a similar sentence condemning slavery and attributing that colonial scourge to King George . The slavery reference was later deleted in order to obtain approval of the Continental Congress, before the document could be issued, by a very small committee on which Thomas Jefferson sat. Jefferson was an infamous slaveholder--unlike Thomas Paine, who had no slaves--and liar (NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA, QUERY XIV, (1785)) about these very blacks, whom he had enslaved & bedded!
I may be wrong but hold to my view, pending further evidence!
There is a school of thought among scholars that Thomas Paine wrote the "Declaration of Independence," not Thomas Jefferson. Having read enough of each man's writings, I concur with that Paine sentiment, based on rhythms, phraseology, and content. Just now, I have read Paine writing the following:
"We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in. In such a cause we are sure that we are right; and we leave to you the despairing reflection of being the tool of a miserable tyrant."
P.150, "American Crisis No. 4, September 12, 1777," THOMAS PAINE: COLLECTED WRITINGS (1955)
The original 1776 "Declaration of Independence" contained a similar sentence condemning slavery and attributing that colonial scourge to King George . The slavery reference was later deleted in order to obtain approval of the Continental Congress, before the document could be issued, by a very small committee on which Thomas Jefferson sat. Jefferson was an infamous slaveholder--unlike Thomas Paine, who had no slaves--and liar (NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA, QUERY XIV, (1785)) about these very blacks, whom he had enslaved & bedded!
I may be wrong but hold to my view, pending further evidence!