The Declaration of Independence, Revised

If the title has you thinking that I’m going to offer an amended version of the Declaration of Independence, think again. Instead, I wanted to post a favorite quotation about the revision of the Declaration of Independence that occurred 250 years ago.

I once took an excellent Historiography class, and the readings included a book called After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection, by James West Davidson and Mark Hamilton Lytle. The book reprints Thomas Jefferson’s recollection of a story told him by Ben Franklin. Jefferson had drafted the Declaration of Independence, and his draft, painfully to Jefferson, was being revised by others. So Franklin told Jefferson why you should never put yourself in this position—never write something that other people are going to edit. Here is Franklin’s story:

I have made it a rule, whenever in my power, to avoid becoming the draughtsman of papers to be reviewed by a public body. I took my lesson from an incident which I will relate to you. When I was a journeyman printer, one of my companions, an apprentice Hatter, having served out his time, was about to open shop for himself. His first concern was to have a handsome signboard, with a proper inscription. He composed it in these words: ‘John Thompson, Hatter, makes and sells hats for ready money,’ with the figure of a hat subjoined. But he thought he would submit it to his friends for their amendments. The first he shewed it to thought the word ‘hatter’ tautologous, because followed by the words ‘makes hats’ which shew he was a hatter. It was struck out. The next observed that the word ‘makes’ might as well be omitted, because his customers would not care who made the hats. If good and to their mind, they would buy, by whomsoever made. He struck it out. A third said he thought the words ‘for ready money’ were useless as it was not the custom of the place to sell on credit. Every one who purchased expected to pay. They were parted with, and the inscription now stood ‘John Thompson sells hats.’ ‘Sells hats’ says his next friend? Why nobody would expect you to give them away. What then is the use of that word? It was stricken out, and ‘hats’ followed it, the rather, as there was one painted on the board. So his inscription was reduced ultimately to ‘John Thompson’ with the figure of a hat subjoined.

Never let others edit your work, Franklin says—and then he proceeds to tell Jefferson an ironic story in which all the edits make the work better. Which Jefferson of course understood.

A Happy Fourth to all readers of Divided Argument!