When John Adams refused to draft the Declaration of Independence, recalling in a letter to Timothy Pickering that he felt he was too “obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular,” Thomas Jefferson, who had “a reputation for literature, science, and a happy talent at composition,” was delegated with the task.
Throughout the month of June 1776, Jefferson composed “A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America in General Congress assembled,” incorporating edits from fellow committee members including Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. As he revised the document, Jefferson made careful strike outs with the annotation printed clearly above it. If the change wasn’t his own, he annotated the margin to state whose it was, e.g. “Dr. Franklin” or “Mr. Adams.”
Detail of revisions and annotations on page 2 of the Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence. Credit: PRTD
However, in one area on page 2, there’s an obvious smudge rather than a neat cross out. Upon closer examination under the microscope, it’s evident there is a word underneath, with “citizens” having been judiciously written atop.
(Left) Ink smudge below the word “citizens.” (Right) 20x magnification shows what looks to be a lower-case crossed “t” behind the “n” in “citizens”. Credit: PRTD
So, what was originally written? And why did Jefferson go to such lengths to wipe out this particular edit compared to others?
Spectral imaging under ultraviolet (UV), visible, and infrared (IR) light enabled PRTD Chief Fenella France to conduct image processing that suppressed the over text to reveal what was underneath. This was a difficult task because the inks were very similar in composition, both being iron gall ink, and had little spectral distinction from each other. Furthermore, the document is laminated (a conservation best-practice in the mid-1900s before information was known about plasticizers) which caused a lot of textural interference in the image. Through careful manipulation and separation of pixels, it was revealed that Jefferson had originally written, “our fellow subjects” before changing it to “our fellow citizens.”
Initial processing attempts exhibit an interference of texture from surface coating. Credit: Fenella France
Depiction of image processing steps taken to reveal the original “subjects” text. Credit: Fenella France
This was an astounding, spine-tingling discovery. One might even say it sparked fireworks. (The Washington Post interviewed Preservation staff’s reactions upon the finding here.) It encapsulates a defining moment in time where Jefferson consciously thought, as he was writing, while the ink was still wet, “no, we’re not subjects of the monarchy anymore, we’re free and independent citizens.”