五人小组
五人小組由第二次大陸會議中的五名成員組成，起草1776年7月4日的《美國獨立宣言》並上呈至賓州議會大廈內之國會全體。小組自1776年6月11日起開始作業，直至1776年7月5日《獨立宣言》對外公告。
該小組由約翰·亞當斯、羅傑·謝爾曼、羅伯特·R·李維頓、湯瑪斯·傑佛遜、班傑明·富蘭克林組成。
五人小組
[编辑]小組成員包括：
- 約翰·亞當斯，麻薩諸塞州代表，後為美國第二任總統。[1]
- 湯瑪斯·傑佛遜，維吉尼亞州代表，後為美國第三任總統。[2]
- 班傑明·富蘭克林，賓州代表，被譽為美國開國元勳中最負盛名的知識分子之一，其學術著作和報刊文章對美國革命影響重大。唯一簽署《獨立宣言》、《美法同盟條約》、《巴黎條約》、和美國憲法的人。
- 羅傑·謝爾曼，康乃狄克州代表，唯他簽署過美國全四部國家級文件（即《大陸協議》、《獨立宣言》、《邦聯條例》、和《美國憲法》）。[3]謝爾曼還提出了《康乃狄克妥協案》。
- 羅伯特·R·李維頓，紐約州代表，後為美國首任外交部長，在喬治·華盛頓的首次就職典禮上主持總統就職宣誓，後以美國駐法國大使身份參與談判路易斯安那購地。[4]
起草《獨立宣言》
[编辑]
國會中的十三殖民地代表決定延後至7月1日星期一才最終審議諸殖民地是否宣佈獨立為主權州，即各於4月12日和5月15日通過之北卡羅來納決議案和維吉尼亞決議案之提案。該提案被稱為“李氏決議文”，由維吉尼亞州的理查德·亨利·李於6月7日提交國會。在這三週的時間內，國會同意任命聲明起草小組，概述諸殖民地脫離大英帝國之緣由。實際上的「美利堅獨立」宣告位於7月4日所散發的傳單之最後一段，重述7月2日所通過之「李氏決議文」內的宣示性論述。
6月11日，五人小組正式受命：麻薩諸塞州約翰·亞當斯、康乃狄克州羅傑·謝爾曼、紐約州羅伯特·R·李維頓、賓州班傑明·富蘭克林、和維吉尼亞州湯瑪斯·傑佛遜。由於沒有留下任何小組會議記錄，起草進程存有不確定性。傑佛遜和亞當斯多年後自撰的記述雖常被引用，但並不完全一致。[5]
初稿
[编辑]在討論過文稿大綱後，第二次大陸會議決定由傑佛遜撰寫初稿。[6]由於會議日程繁忙，傑佛遜在隨後的17天內沒什麼時間起草。[7]他隨後與其他小組成員磋商，由他們大幅修訂草稿並加以潤色，[8]再由傑佛遜另起一稿以納入這些修訂。
這些變化包括將傑佛遜所述「維護生命、自由並追求幸福」簡化為現今更為簡潔的響亮表述：「生命、自由、與追求幸福」，有似於約翰·洛克先前之表述私有財產為自然權利：「生命、自由、和財產」而略帶差異。[9]
傑佛遜在初稿中也考量過嚴厲批評英國驅使奴隸，後來刪除以免冒犯奴隸主。[10]
草稿上呈
[编辑]1776年6月28日，小組進呈草稿至國會院會，約翰·程布爾為之作畫紀念。即《美利堅合眾國代表宣告於院會》。[11]
簽署
[编辑]雖無官方記載，但此次歷史性投票的時間記錄約為下午6:26（地方平時18:26）。國會隨後聽取院會報告，並於隔天（7月2日下午）宣布合眾殖民地之主權地位。院會隨後審議《宣言》，於休會前二讀。[12]
最後一刻的爭執
[编辑]7月3日星期三，院會對《宣言》進行三讀，開始審查文本具體措辭。小組草稿除被院會否決了兩段文字外，最終未經任何重大修改即被採納。其中一段文字是批判英國人民，另一段是譴責奴隸貿易與奴隸制度。
傑佛遜將刪除了兩段文字寫入自傳中：
我們在英國還有值得往來的友人之膽怯想法縈繞多人心中。那些譴責英國人民的段落因而被刪除以避免冒犯。譴責奴役非洲居民的條文也遭刪除，以迎合從未試圖限制奴隸進口的南卡羅來納和喬治亞。他們反倒仍希望持續下去。我相信，我們北方弟兄對這些譴責也略感不適，因其儘管自有的奴隸很少，卻將數額可觀的奴隸轉賣他人。[13]
正如約翰·亞當斯多年後所作的回憶，編輯工作到7月3日休會時已大致完成，但文本正式見採被延遲到次日早上，議會於7月4日上午稍晚投票通過。[14][15]
清樣
[编辑]
被採納的草稿隨後發回五人小組以謄錄一份“清樣”，即謄清修訂後的文稿交付予單面印刷商約翰·當列普。五人小組於是在7月4日傍晚晤面以完事。[16]
歷史學家缺乏文獻資料確認簽證方的身份。目前尚不清楚《獨立宣言》是由五人小組簽證，還是委員會將清樣呈交漢考克總統簽證，又或者約翰·漢考克總統直到印刷廠完成校樣後（即後來的當列普單面印刷版）才簽證在上面。無論如何，隨著7月5日當列普單面印刷版《獨立宣言》發布，五人小組大功告成。[17]
當列普單面印刷版公開發佈
[编辑]當列普單面版於7月5日發布後，公眾得以細閱《獨立宣言》的簽署人。大陸會議總統漢考克的簽名現於其上，大陸會議秘書長查爾斯·湯姆森副署。事實證明，與會者對此歷史性時刻記憶力薄弱。五人小組的成員們30年不到就已經記不清1776年7月4日和5日兩天的細節，及其積極參與。因此在最初的幾十年裡誕生出了個長久流傳的神話：大陸會議所有代表於7月4日在盛大的儀式上一齊簽署宣言。[18]
首發與首次公開宣讀
[编辑]在第二次大陸會議56名代表於1776年7月4日一致通過《獨立宣言》的兩天後，即7月6日，《賓州晚報》刊登了《獨立宣言》。1776年7月8日中午，《獨立宣言》在費城三個地點首次公開宣讀。約翰·尼克森分別宣讀於今紐澤西州翠登和賓夕法尼亞州伊斯頓獨立廳前院中。[19]
參見
[编辑]參考文獻
[编辑]- ^ John Adams. The White House. [10 June 2021].
- ^ Thomas Jefferson. The White House. [10 June 2021].
- ^ Mangan, Gregg. Roger Sherman, Revolutionary and Dedicated Public Servant. Connecticut History, a CT Humanities Project. 10 October 2020 [10 June 2021] （英语）.
- ^ Beagle, Ben. Livingston County marks 200 years. Livingston County News. 23 February 2021 [10 June 2021] （英语）.
- ^ Maier, American Scripture, 97–105; Boyd, Evolution, 21.
- ^ Boyd, Evolution, 22.
- ^ Maier,American Scripture, 104.
- ^ Exhibition – Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents | Exhibitions – Library of Congress. Library of Congress. 4 July 1995 [2010-02-18]. （原始内容存档于2016-08-06）., retrieved on October 29, 2013
- ^ Locke, John. Laslett, Peter , 编. Two Treatises of Government
. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press. 1988. Sec. 87, 123, 209, 222 [1689]. ISBN 052135448X.
- ^ Williams, Yohuru. Why Thomas Jefferson's Anti-Slavery Passage Was Removed from the Declaration of Independence. HISTORY. [2020-11-19] （英语）.
- ^ Becker, Declaration of Independence, 4.
- ^ For verification of the afternoon July 2 date of this vote of Congress, see Harold Eberlein & Cortlandt Hubbard, Diary of Independence Hall (J.B. Lippincott Co., 1948), entry: Tuesday, July 2, 1776, pp. 171–72. See also John M. Coleman, THOMAS MCKEAN; Forgotten Leader of the Revolution (American Faculty Press, 1975), Chapter 11: Independence 1776, p. 174. See also Jane Harrington Scott, A Gentleman As Well As a Whig: Caesar Rodney and the American Revolution (University of Delaware Press, 2000), Chapter 15: Independence is Declared, p. 117 therein. Speculatively, an estimated time moment interval of 14:00 LMT up to 18:00 LMT appears to be the period during which this day's historic events reached completion by the vote in Congress and the newspaper report of independence declared.
- ^ Autobiography, by Thomas Jefferson
- ^ A New Jersey delegate to Congress, Abraham Clark, wrote to his friend Elias Dayton during the early morning of July 4, explaining Congress' recent editing of the Declaration:
Our Congress Resolved to Declare the United Colonies Free and the Independent States. A Declaration for this purpose, I expect, will this day pass Congress, it is nearly gone through, after which it will be Proclaimed with all the State & Solemnity Circumstances will admit. It is gone so far that we must now be a free independent State, or a Conquered Country.
So wrote Abraham Clark to Elias Dayton, in of Delegates to Congress, Vol. 4 May 16, 1776 – August 15, 1776, p. 378.
- ^ For verification of the late morning July 4 time of Congress' agreement to the text of the Declaration, see Paul H. Smith, "Time and Temperature: Philadelphia, July 4, 1776", in The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, Vol. 33, No. 4, October 1976, p. 296. See also Pauline Maier, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (Alfred A. Knopf, 1997), Chapter III: Mr. Jefferson and His Editors, p. 150. Speculatively, an estimated time moment interval of 10:30 LMT up to 11:00 LMT appears to be the least unlikely period during which the voted adoption of the precise wording of the text of the Declaration was completed.
- ^ For corroboration of time (16:45 to 18:35 LMT) of the completion of the 'fair copy' of the Declaration by the Committee of Five, see Edward Channing, A History of the United States. (N.Y: The MacMillan Co., 1912), Volume III: The American Revolution, 1761–1789; Chapter VII: The Declaration of Independence, pp. 182–209, wherein July 4th, p. 205. See also Edward Channing, A Short History of the United States. (N.Y: The MacMillan Co., 1908), Chapter V-15: The Great Declaration and the French Alliance, p. 146.
- ^ The Congress left no record of when, during the night of July 4/5, President John Hancock affixed his authenticating signature to either the Committee's fair copy of the Dunlap broadside master copy (the printer's proof-copy). On the extant original copies of the printed broadside, one finds this: "Signed by Order and in Behalf of the Congress, JOHN HANCOCK, President." For a scholarly appraisal of this national tragedy of the absent record of Hancock's signature moment, see Julian P. Boyd, "The Declaration of Independence: The Mystery of the Lost Original", in The Pennsylvania Magazine. Vol. C, No. 4, October 1976, pp. 438–67.
- ^ Congress may have taken as little as 33 days from the debates of July 1 to the opening of business on August 2, to establish "THE unanimous DECLARATION of the thirteen united STATES OF AMERICA", being the revised-format edition of the July 4 Declaration. This 'unanimous thirteen' edition remains on permanent public display, enshrined in the rotunda of the National Archives at Washington, D.C. For a partially successful effort to piece together the fragmented record of the genesis of the Declaration's creation during this 33-day interval, see Wilfred J. Ritz, "The Authentication of the Engrossed Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776", in the Cornell Law School's Law and History Review. Vol. 4, No. 1, Spring 1986, pp. 179–204. See also, Herbert Friedenwald, The Declaration of Independence: An Interpretation and an Analysis. (MacMillan & Co., 1904), pp. 138–51.
- ^ "The Declaration of Independence in Easton", Historical Marker Datatbase
外部連結
[编辑]- Lee Resolution: "The Lee Resolution of June 7, 1776, born of the Virginia Resolve of May 15, 1776"[失效連結].
- Dunlap broadside: The Dunlap broadside of the Declaration of Independence, as first published on July 5, 1776, entitled "A DECLARATION By The Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA In General Congress assembled".
- Goddard broadside: The Goddard broadside of the Declaration of Independence, as first published on January 31, 1777, entitled "The unanimous DECLARATION of the Thirteen United States of AMERICA".
