You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast. Hello and thank you for joining the American Revolution.

Today episode 99 declaring independence.

Last week we looked at the politics and voting for independence.

Today I want to take a closer look at the drafting of the document itself. Most people regard the Declaration of Independence,

along with the U.S. Constitution, as probably the most important documents from the founding of the United States.

The Declaration is America's birth certificate, marking not only the date our country was founded,

but providing an explanation as to why it should be founded.

The radical language of the document was so controversial that the U.S. State Department

at one time banned its distribution at certain embassies, lest it encourage other countries to revolt against their leaders. 1776, after Richard Henry Lee introduced the resolution from Virginia that these

United colonies are end of right ought to be free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance

to the British crown and that all political connection between them and the state of Great

Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved.

Congress put off a debate on that question so delegates could work with their local governments

to get approval.

While some were trying to build a political consensus,

Congress created a committee to begin drafting the actual declaration

so that they would be ready if and when the colonies gave their approval.

The Declaration Committee consisted of John Adams of Massachusetts, whom I've already discussed a lot already,

Benjamin Franklin, who also supported independence,

but who came from Pennsylvania,

which was still instructing its delegates to oppose it.

Roger Sherman of Connecticut Connecticut who supported independence.

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