Look closely at the picture accompanying this article—history in the making. The painting is “Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776” by J.L.G. Ferris.
The Library of Congress describes the painting as “Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams meet at Jefferson’s lodgings, on the corner of Seventh and High (Market) streets in Philadelphia, to review a draft of the Declaration of Independence.”
This art piece draws us into the creation of the Declaration of Independence, as illustrated in Walter Isaacson’s “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written” (The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (2025), Simon & Schuster).
The Declaration’s Defining Sentence
So, what does Isaacson claim is the greatest sentence ever written? It’s found in the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Edits to the Declaration’s Defining Sentence
Right from the start, Isaacson reminds us that this sentence was edited before it became the famous sentence we know and memorized in school. Thomas Jefferson’s original draft said this:
“We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable; that all men are created equal & independant, (original spelling) that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness… “
Fortunately, that sentence got reworked for clarity. You will recall that the Committee of Five assisted in the composition of the Declaration, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.
Isaacson shows that Franklin replaced “sacred” with “self-evident.” Jefferson revised “from that equal creation they derive rights” to “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
Balancing the Roles of Providence and Reason
I appreciate that Isaacson points out the combined effort to balance the role of Divine Providence with reason (an Enlightenment-era influence) as the Committee of Five was constructing a document declaring the rights of this new nation, conceived in liberty.
Reflect again on the Declaration’s second sentence and its sense of balance. For instance, Adams favored ‘unalienable’ while Jefferson used ‘inalienable,’ showing one of their recurring disagreements. We’ll explore the spelling differences in a future article.
Stay tuned. Follow Common Sense Civics and Citizenship as we review the book and edits, and show why this is essential civic literacy.
This is Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. 🇺🇸
https://shorturl.at/hY9HV (to see a copy of the print)
Join the conversation! https://www.facebook.com/commonsensecivics
Subscribe to my weekly email updates for weekly lessons on our founding American documents @ civicsandcitizenship.org/sign-up-for-email-updates/
