The Founding Fathers: Why their radical beliefs continue to shape America

Yes, they were flawed; many of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence – indeed the man who wrote it – were themselves slaveholders. Yes, also: what they did in the summer of 1776 changed the world. "Lots of times people just want to say, 'Nah, we'll just write off the Declaration of Independence because of Thomas Jefferson's hypocrisy,'" said Harvard professor Danielle Allen, one of the world's foremost experts on the Declaration of Independence. "We can't write it off. We shouldn't write it off. It is our inheritance." Asked the best way to honor America's 250th birthday, Allen replied, "Take the time to read the Declaration of Independence out loud. It's only 1,337 words, yet it's one of the most important philosophical statements about what a good government is, what the people deserve, what we are as human beings." By the summer of 1776, the Revolutionary War was in full swing. Delegates from the 13 colonies, meeting in Philadelphia, authorized the drafting of a Declaration of Independence. The drafting committee included Benjamin Franklin, a self-made printer and inventor, and Massachusetts lawyer John Adams. But it was the new kid, 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson, who hammered out the first draft, including the phrase, "All men are created equal." The proposed Declaration of Independence being presented to the Continental Congress in 1776. …