MORALS, BELIEFS, POLITICS, AND TREASON

On July 4, 1776, the second Continental Congress of the American colonies approved Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence. Although Congress edited the document's most radical statements, Jefferson's main points were spared and his sound reasoning was retained. Despite this condensation, the resulting manuscript was nonetheless liberal in its entirety, so that the would-be signers of the treasonous document were faced with a possibly lethal consequence. Their signatures could seal their death warrants, should the king of England choose to hold trials and executions for their mutinous acts. The members of the Congress displayed their virtuous traits and high regard for their own morals by signing the declaration laid before them.

Jefferson used a writing technique known as parallelism in the work to convey the strong feelings shared by members of the second Continental Congress to the king of England. He began several consecutive paragraphs with "He has..." ("he" referring to the king), each followed by an accusation. "Jefferson's use of parallelism makes his argument grow stronger with each reason he presents." (The American Experience, p.143) Another key element in the Declaration was Jefferson's attempt to alleviate the scorn felt between Americans and the English crown by beginning the document with an extremely logical explanation for his following arguments. The result was a logically firm explanation of the need for separation.

The Declaration of Independence was met with little resistance by Congress, which suggests that Jefferson had accurately recorded the members' feelings toward the crown of England. Surely the members understood the possible repercussions of their signing, which displays not only their firm stance in moral and political issues, but also the strong developing patriotism and uniting of the American people evident during the mid eighteenth century.