Who said that these united colonies are and of right

On July 4, Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, explaining "to a candid world" why the United States had declared their freedom from Britain. As the delegates signed the Declaration, they feared for their lives. Between April and early July , there were 90 declarations of independence by provincial congresses in nine colonies, as well as by Maryland counties, Massachusetts town meetings, New York and Philadelphia artisans and militia members, South Carolina grand jurors, and Virginia county leaders.

The Lee Resolution, also known as the resolution of independence, was an act of the Second Continental Congress declaring the Thirteen Colonies to be independent of the British Empire.

Richard Henry Lee of Virginia first proposed it on June 7, It is the earliest form and draft of the Declaration of Independence. Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right 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.

This Declaration committee operated from June 11, until July 5, , the day on which the Declaration was published. The Committee of Five first presented the document to Congress on June 28, However, circumstances changed the course of history. First, Lee was appointed to the Committee of Confederation for the writing of the Articles of Confederation , and thought that being part of both committees would be too great an effort.

Second, his wife became gravely ill during the Philadelphia convention, forcing him to return home prematurely. A young delegate from Virginia who had shown great promise was selected to take Lee's place. His name was Thomas Jefferson , and he would quickly become one of the most important individuals in the history of the United States.

What most people don't know is that, at first, Jefferson had no interest in penning the Declaration. He wanted John Adams to do it instead. Adams writes in his account of the episode in a letter to Timothy Pickering , a politician from Massachusetts and a good friend of Adams:.

Jefferson proposed to me to make the draft. I said, 'I will not,' 'You should do it. You ought to do it. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can. When you have drawn it up, we will have a meeting.