Jefferson: Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. Library of Congress / Unsplash.
Thomas Jefferson Survives: What the Declaration of Independence Says to Us Today
By Domenic Clementi | Military & Veterans Editor | The Woodbridge Gazette
It is a striking irony that Thomas Jefferson — Founder, third President of the United States, and author of the Declaration of Independence — passed away on July 4th, 1826, fifty years after the Declaration was proclaimed in Philadelphia.
No doubt, many readers recall not only this fact, but the even stranger irony that John Adams, our second President and Jefferson’s ally for independence in the Continental Congress, would die the very same day. C. James Taylor of the Massachusetts Historical Society relates that on that day, around noon, as he lay dying, those tending to Adams reported that America’s second President suddenly awoke from a deep sleep and invoked his old friend with these words: “Thomas Jefferson survives.” Jefferson succumbed around an hour later, and Adams passed near six that evening.
Adams: John Adams, second President of the United States. Library of Congress / Unsplash.
There is a poignancy to this strange coincidence that touches the coldest hearts, and the passing of over two centuries only heightens it. Each Independence Day, we celebrate the Declaration solemnly or, more likely, in quite casual, festive fashion. Leaders may officially venerate the document and honor the memory of those who prepared it. In passing, we may think of the Founders; we even fondly remember personal aspects of their lives — the marriage of minds and temperaments between Abigail and John Adams, for instance. One can safely assume that, were they to know, the men and women who led the Revolution would be gratified by the honors shown both to their nation and to them so long after their era.
Is this enough, and does it serve us well as citizens? What would Jefferson, Adams, and the other signers of the Declaration of Independence want us to remember about their work? When we read the Declaration carefully and distill it into its basic arguments, what does it offer us today in 2026? If he were able, perhaps Jefferson would direct us most closely to the following:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
First, Jefferson would assert that all human beings, by the grace of the higher power that created them, are equal with each other before that power — and because of that, they have rights that ought never to be taken from them. In fact, the rights are intangible: they are a gift from the Creator to each and every person. A tyrannical government may cast a person into a prison cell quite unjustly and compel him or her to suffer there, but no amount of unjust power will ever vindicate it. Human beings are the bearers of an inherent dignity. They are not mere mute things, mere objects for manipulation by the powerful.
In fact, as the author so boldly asserts, human beings are fully free, active agents of their destinies — for good or ill — and constrained properly by a learned understanding of and respect for that freedom which is equally shared by others. This is the natural boundary among and between us.
“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Second, he would remind us that in any just political order, we, the people, select, assemble, and constitute any government. We choose a form of government to secure our liberties between each other and to protect them from enemies who would take them from us. We choose a just government when it is a rational design imbued with an enduring respect for liberty. Ultimately, we are the government.
Third, Jefferson provides a blueprint for just and effective political change, if and when needed:
“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.”
Finally, Jefferson would advise us of a sacred responsibility to ourselves and our descendants. Here, the writer of the Declaration does not hesitate — indeed, he demands that we accept the implications of the Declaration as the guarantors of the success or failure of liberty:
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shewn, that mankind is more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
There we have it — the distilled essence of the American political system. It has inspired uncounted political aspirations and deeds in our country and around the world since then and will certainly go on to inspire any number more for as long as human beings endeavor to create better government. Nothing written has ever come as close to expressing the American character.
Of course, there is so much more that could be said and written about the Declaration of Independence. The original lies in a glass case in the National Archives — a little forgotten, surrounded by guards, gawked at by tourists. Sometimes we lament its lost promise as a people, disillusioned with our leaders, hectored by pundits into cynical despair. Yet the document still lives. No politician would dare to suppress it, deny it, or reject its basic premises. Not for a minute.
So, if you have a minute over the next couple of weeks, get on your computer or phone and read a paragraph or two of this mighty work. After all, it is yours. It was written for you.
To learn more about the Declaration of Independence and the people who wrote and inspired it, visit the National Constitution Center.
Sources: Miller Center, University of Virginia (millercenter.org/president/adams/life-after-the-presidency); Library of Congress (loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/214.html).
Photos: Library of Congress / Unsplash.
About the Author
Domenic Clementi is the Military & Veterans Editor of The Woodbridge Gazette. A retired U.S. Army veteran of 30 years, he writes a recurring essay series on history, service, and community.
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Photo: Signing of the Declaration of Independence. Library of Congress.