Fragment Of An Idea

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Fragment of Rough Draft
Holograph manuscript, June 1776
Manuscript Division

This is the only surviving fragment of the earliest composition draft of the Declaration of Independence, written by Jefferson in mid-June 1776. This version was heavily edited before he prepared the "fair copy," which we know now as "the original Rough draught." None of the words deleted from this fragment appear in the Rough Draft, but each of the 148 words that were not edited are there. The writing below is Jefferson's draft of a resolution on the resignation of General John Sullivan, July 26, 1776.