The Declaration of Independence

I had been elected as an alternate to the second continental congress. I wasn't even a primary delegate and soon was put on this committee of five. And so the five of us were going to draft some kind of a statement saying that we were going to detach ourselves from the British Empire. John Adams is eight years older than I am. He was a much more important figure in the build up to the revolution than I was. But he said, you must write this for three reasons. Number one, you are a Virginian and a Virginian must be at the head of this. The second reason he said was I, John Adams, speaking of himself, am widely disliked. And if