Changes

[[Image:Declaration committee.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Declaration Committee]]

[[Image:Declaration committee.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Declaration Committee]]

The "Declaration Committee," consisted of five people: [[Thomas Jefferson]] of Virginia, [[Roger Sherman]] of Connecticut, [[Benjamin Franklin]] of Pennsylvania, [[Robert R. Livingston]] of New York, and [[John Adams]] of Massachusetts.  It was appointed by Congress on June 11, 1776, to draft a declaration in anticipation of an expected vote in favor of American independence, which occurred on July 2.<ref name="committee members">{{cite web

The "Declaration Committee," consisted of five people: [[Thomas Jefferson]] of Virginia, [[Roger Sherman]] of Connecticut, [[Benjamin Franklin]] of Pennsylvania, [[Robert R. Livingston]] of New York, and [[John Adams]] of Massachusetts.  It was appointed by Congress on June 11, 1776, to draft a declaration in anticipation of an expected vote in favor of American independence, which occurred on July 2.<ref name="committee members">{{cite web

| url=http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/declara4.html | title=Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents | accessdate=2007-08-04 }}</ref>

| url=http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/declara4.html | title=Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents | accessdate=2007-08-04 }}</ref>  Shortly after the committee met, Adams and Jefferson were regarded as the two best to do the bulk of the drafting of the document.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4rnOtIV-bY4C&pg=PA80 How to Analyze the Works of John Adams]</ref>  Adams, however, deferred to Jefferson, on the grounds of three very shrewd reasonings:

 

<blockquote>"Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can"</blockquote>

At this point the British had been driven entirely from the United Colonies, and independence became increasingly a reality.

At this point the British had been driven entirely from the United Colonies, and independence became increasingly a reality.