History. How important is history to everyday life? To genealogy? In my opinion, everything meshes together. Knowing factual history can help you to understand the time period your family lived. Have you ever thought, “Why in the world did they decide to move there or do that?” So, as I do my family's history, I often research the time period. Recently I have been focused on the lead up to the Revolutionary War. I had read about the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Did you know there was another draft that survived? I love history but had no idea.
Among papers given to the Library of Congress was the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. It is Thomas Jefferson’s handwriting. It has all the cross out and things written in the margins. What I found to be so interesting was the last complaint. It was the longest part and yet it was crossed out. Why? From the beginning the Continental Congress had decided that to be able to fight England for independence the union was going to have to be unanimous among the thirteen colonies. This way they would all stay united and not fall away if persuaded by one issue. Two states, South Carolina and Georgia, did not like the complaint, so to keep the front united, it was taken out of the final draft. What was that complaint about you ask? Reading it would be the best way to find out.
he [the King] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce: and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, & murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.
The part they took out in order to stay united was about slavery. The capital letters were in the Jefferson’s document. The underlined words above were underlined in the original document. This clearly was an important issue to the founders of this great nation. However, until less than a week ago, I had no idea. Did you? Do you love to learn the history that goes along with your family genealogy?
Source
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/ruffdrft.html
