tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33399132.post3726962107811932170..comments2024-03-04T08:09:21.453-08:00Comments on Richard's Real Estate and Urban Economics Blog: Jefferson had his problems, but boy could he writeRichard Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02161226214739034402noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33399132.post-618649052476452412008-07-04T01:34:00.000-07:002008-07-04T01:34:00.000-07:00"The history of the present King of Great Britain ..."The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States"<BR/><BR/>Should read: "The history of the present King of the United States [George II]..."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33399132.post-62996367246648710052008-07-03T18:22:00.000-07:002008-07-03T18:22:00.000-07:00Judge Glock:Fair enough. On the other hand, we al...Judge Glock:<BR/><BR/>Fair enough. On the other hand, we all benefit from good editing. And while Adams (who was a pretty good writer himself) and company improved the draft, they has a very strong "rough draft" with which to start.Richard Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02161226214739034402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33399132.post-51171264474106998342008-07-03T18:18:00.000-07:002008-07-03T18:18:00.000-07:00Jefferson certainly could write, but he also had a...Jefferson certainly could write, but he also had an unfortunate tendency towards the abstruse. See his original draft of the Declaration:<BR/><BR/>When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a people to advance from that subordination in which they have hitherto remained, & to assume among the powers of the earth the equal & independant station to which the laws of nature & of nature’s god entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the change.<BR/><BR/> We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable; that all men are created equal & independant, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these ends, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government shall become destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, & to institute new government, laying it’s foundation on such principles & organising it’s powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety & happiness.<BR/><BR/>http://www.princeton.edu/~tjpapers/declaration/declaration.html<BR/><BR/>Much of the thanks for the completed draft goes to John Adams and others on the Committee of Five as well as the entire Continental Congress, which cut out about a fourth of the verbiage, including of course a denunciation of the slave trade.Judge Glockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00766861729897111636noreply@blogger.com