May Highlight: An Instrument which will Perpetuate the Fame of its Author

Research Highlights Portrait of Jefferson by Kosciuszko

"Devoted to his country's cause, The rights of Man and equal laws,
His hallow'd pen was given;
And now those rights and laws to save, From sinking to an early grave,
He comes, employ'd by Heaven.
- "The People's Friend", Lyrics by Rembrandt Peale, music by John Isaac Hawkings, 1801

Why was Thomas Jefferson elected President of the United States? Leaving aside the complicated procedures of the actual election, what caused people to vote for Jefferson? Neither Jefferson nor Adams publicly campaigned, or had a particular platform. Instead, voters were influenced purely by propaganda in partisan newspapers. Based on the pro-Jefferson propaganda, if Jefferson did run on a platform in the election of 1800, it would have been the accomplishment that was printed and glorified above any other: his authorship of the Declaration of Independence.

Yes, the other members of the Committee of Five (including his future opponent, John Adams) edited Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration. And yes, there were outspoken individuals in this period that defended John Adams’ role in the drafting process and diminished Jefferson’s. Fear not -- they will be featured in next month’s blog. This month, read a sampling of the grandiose passages praising Jefferson and, more importantly, the Declaration of Independence, during the election of 1800.

April Highlight: Missing McKean

Research Highlights 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence. Signing began on August 2, 1776, but not every delegate signed at that time. Virginia delegates George Wythe and Richard Henry Lee signed later in the fall. Elbridge Gerry and Oliver Wolcott signed later, as well. Matthew Thornton was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress long after July 4th, and petitioned to add his signature when he joined Congress in November. But one delegate in particular signed so much later than his peers that his name was left off the Goddard Broadside and the first editions of the Journals of the Continental Congress for 1776. Printers from 1777 through the beginning of the 19th century – particularly frequent printer of the Declaration, John Dunlap – had a will-they-won't-they relationship with McKean's name. Take a look at this complicated print legacy, surprising for a name so dedicated to the cause of independence.

Stone Facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, List of Signers

March Highlight: Mary Katherine Goddard

Research Highlights Logo The Declaration of Independence was an act of treason. The men that signed the parchment Declaration of Independence, now in the National Archives, were literally pledging their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. They knew that their support of an act of independence would come back to haunt them if the British defeated George Washington and the Continental Army. If you take a closer look at a broadside printed in January 1777 by order of the Continental Congress, you'll notice another name committed to the cause. Not a signer, but a printer. Not a man, but a woman. Meet Mary Katherine Goddard, printer and postmaster to the Second Continental Congress in Baltimore.