It is the summer of 1776. Thomas Jefferson is not happy. He'd rather be home in Virginia than attending Philadelphia's Continental Congress  Thomas Jefferson knew he had a job to do. Important men throughout the American colonies  were meeting in Philadelphis to discuss and debate the war with Great Briain. The colony of Virginia sent Thomas Jefferson to Philadelphia. But  Jefferson wasn't happy. Jefferson wanted to be home that hot summer of 1776. he missed his wife, Martha. She hadn't been feeling well when he left, and he worried about her. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee from Virginia stood up at the Congress and announced that "these American colonies ought to be free and independent states." Jefferson probably knew what was coming next. Here was another resolution  to debate. And whenever there was a resolution, there was a declaration. The American colonies had been at war with Great Britain for more than a year, but surprisingly. The colonies had not formally announced their independence. So the Congress appointed a five-man committee to crate a document declaring America's independence. And the committee chose Thomas Jefferson to write it. Jefferson knew he was to list the unfair things Great Britain had done to the colonies. For days and days,, Jefferson wrote and rewrote about the king and his unfair laws. About independence. About freedom. He borrowed ideas from other political writers, but he wrote these thoughts in words that all people could understand. He wanted his ideas to be shared with everyone. And  _ were. The Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. on July 8, it was read out loud to a cheering crowd. No one knew who the author was, but they knew what the Declaration stood for-independence and freedom for all. Still, Thomas Jefferson dreamed of home. In late July he begged Richard Henry Lee to replace him in the Congress. In September, Jefferson's dream finally came true, and he traveled home. Since then, the words Thomas Jefferson wrote during that hot Philadelphia summer have inspired people throughout the world. Thank goodness Jefferson didn't go home. What do we know about the Declaration of Independence?
It was written in quite simple words It took Jefferson about one year to write it Jefferson finished it with the help of Richard Henry Lee It won Jefferson great honors immediately it was announced.