To sign Your Name

BY NOW WE ALL KNOW that it could have been july second, or first.jefferson, under great duress, finished and gave them the document in late june, only a few days after he had begun writing it, under great duress. The last man signed it on the fourth, and so be it.

He did not want to be the author of the declaration. He thought he was too young and unknown, lacked social standing, the kind of universal respect given to john adams and benjamin franklin. But adams and franklin basically made him do it.

adams and franklin knew that the dreamy kid jefferson was the most brilliant intellect in the bunch, and he had a magical way with words. jefferson might have been the right man at the right time. He was mad, about something. maybe being away from his wife, maybe at the king. after 1774, for whatever reason, jefferson was a revolutionary.

 Tell them three things, franklin said to dreamy tom. tell them that we are hereby independent of their rule, tell them why, and remind them that we mean it, every word.

there was no need to go over the reasons, again. all that had been done, over and over, unto sickness. and everybody was in agreement; there was nly one thing to do, only one choice, nightmarishly impossible as that choice seemed.

They had no chance of pulling it off, and they damned well knew it. The odds were overwhelming, heavily stacked against them. It would take a miracle. And yet, what else, at this point, could they do?

The document that jefferson came up with was, is, outstanding, even with all the changes they made to it. It accomplished all three requirements, sensationally. adams and franklin and others had many opinions about jefferswon's choice of words here and there, a picky complaint here, a picky complaint there, and they changed many words, while jefferson rolled his eyes.

but they did not alter the basic idea behind it, the substance of it, the statement of intent, the logical listing of grievances, the reasons, the separating words, the reaffirmation. Almost like a religious liturgy, which, in america, in a sense, it is.

catch a break or two, get a little help, and who knows. you sure as hell have to believe in the rightness of what you're doing. That keeps you motivated. If you believe in something enough, you are willing to die for it, and you sign your name with your brothers, big and bold.