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Thomas Jefferson Used ‘Subjects’ Instead of ‘Citizens’ in Early Declaration of Independence
Fox News.com ^ | 02 Jul 2010 | staff reporter

Posted on 07/02/2010 10:08:50 AM PDT by Daffynition

WASHINGTON - Library of Congress officials say Thomas Jefferson made a Freudian slip while penning a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence.

In an early draft of the document, which is kept under lock and key in one of the Library's vaults, Jefferson referred to the American population as "subjects," then replaced it with the word "citizens," a term he used frequently throughout the final draft.

(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxdc.com ...


TOPICS: Education; History
KEYWORDS: declaration; fortunes; lives; sacredhonor; thomasjefferson
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A series of images showing the word "citizens" analyzed under various wavelengths, with certain images enhanced by computer to make the underlying word "subjects" more apparent. (Image Credit: loc.gov)

1 posted on 07/02/2010 10:08:52 AM PDT by Daffynition
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To: Daffynition
View document.


2 posted on 07/02/2010 10:11:16 AM PDT by Daffynition (There is no other cheese.)
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View document.


3 posted on 07/02/2010 10:11:32 AM PDT by Daffynition (There is no other cheese.)
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To: Daffynition

HMMMM.

Citizen appears ONE time in the final version.

“He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.”

Further, at the time of the drafting of the declaration, we WERE subjects of the King of England - so no freudian slip at all!

Typical New Age baloney to lessen a PERFECT document!


4 posted on 07/02/2010 10:14:56 AM PDT by An.American.Expatriate (Here's my strategy on the War against Terrorism: We win, they lose. - with apologies to R.R.)
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To: Daffynition
The citizens, were, subjects at the time he wrote that. They became citizens after they kicked the Kings butt.
5 posted on 07/02/2010 10:16:59 AM PDT by F.J. Mitchell (If Obama doesn't destroy America, she is indestructible.)
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To: Daffynition

Interesting. I once heard that there was a little-known copy of the Constitution with the word “suckers” in it. Never could pin that one down, though.


6 posted on 07/02/2010 10:16:59 AM PDT by andy58-in-nh (America does not need to be organized: it needs to be liberated.)
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To: An.American.Expatriate

I wonder if you could make a Freudian slip before there was a Freud.

I don’t think that meets the definition anyway. Whenever I write something I always find myself coming up with words that don’t quite mean what I wanted to say and then think of the right word in a later draft.


7 posted on 07/02/2010 10:18:11 AM PDT by gthog61
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To: andy58-in-nh

The word “suckers” appears in the penumbra of the Constitution. It’s right there next to the abortion section.


8 posted on 07/02/2010 10:19:21 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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To: andy58-in-nh

It’s in C. Montgomery Burns’ basement.


9 posted on 07/02/2010 10:19:25 AM PDT by Future Snake Eater ("Get out of the boat and walk on the water with us!”--Sen. Joe Biden)
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To: Daffynition

The Declaration ushered in a new era... even for Jefferson. As he penned it, they were subject to the Crown. The point of the document what to sever that connection. It wasn’t freudian... it was reality until he realized that their new reality of equality of all men also meant they were subject to no one. Simple edit... profound change.


10 posted on 07/02/2010 10:19:42 AM PDT by pgyanke (You have no "rights" that require an involuntary burden on another person. Period. - MrB)
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To: Daffynition
They say, never watch how they make hot-dogs (especially if you like them) pass laws, the creating process not very pretty to look at.
I wouldn't call Jefferson's use of the term "subjects" so much as Freudian slip as merely one of cultural usage, familiarity, upbringing whereby the term for everyday members of society were referred to as "subjects" in a land ruled by a King.
11 posted on 07/02/2010 10:20:45 AM PDT by lbryce (Obama Notwithstanding, America's Best Days Are Yet To Be .)
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To: Future Snake Eater

You nailed it ;-)


12 posted on 07/02/2010 10:22:38 AM PDT by andy58-in-nh (America does not need to be organized: it needs to be liberated.)
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To: F.J. Mitchell

And so we will again.


13 posted on 07/02/2010 10:22:51 AM PDT by Dick Bachert
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To: ClearCase_guy

Apparently, it was written in disappearing ink. You need lemon juice and a hair dryer to read it.


14 posted on 07/02/2010 10:24:38 AM PDT by andy58-in-nh (America does not need to be organized: it needs to be liberated.)
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To: Daffynition

At the time that Jefferson wrote it they were all still “subjects” of Great Britain on the verge of becoming “citizens” of a new nation....


15 posted on 07/02/2010 10:25:01 AM PDT by Uncle Chip (TRUTH : Ignore it. Deride it. Allegorize it. Interpret it. But you can't ESCAPE it.)
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To: gthog61
Whenever I write something I always find myself coming up with words that don’t quite mean what I wanted to say and then think of the right word in a later draft.

No no no, that won't do now at all! How can we possibly imply that Jefferson regarded his fellow citizens as subjects if we allow such claims to stand? His "original intent" was that we are subjects and he disingenuously changed that to citizen to hid his real intent! Darn Old Dead White Man Slave Holder .....

16 posted on 07/02/2010 10:25:42 AM PDT by An.American.Expatriate (Here's my strategy on the War against Terrorism: We win, they lose. - with apologies to R.R.)
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To: Daffynition

As an old man Jefferson wrote to Adams that one of the few pleasures he had in growing old was seeing scientific progress. As a scientist Jefferson would have been extremely impressed to see his mistake discovered hundreds of years later.


17 posted on 07/02/2010 10:26:52 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: Daffynition
Thomas Jefferson Used ‘Subjects’ Instead of ‘Citizens’ in Early Declaration of Independence

Don't let Obama and Pelosi find out.

18 posted on 07/02/2010 10:27:50 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: Daffynition
Someone is just being picky. We all know that the actual words don't really matter. It's all about the intent as viewed through current social norms. Therefore what Jefferson really meant to say was “our fellow multicultural, sexually ambiguous, subservient sheep”
19 posted on 07/02/2010 10:28:50 AM PDT by Pan_Yan
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To: Daffynition

So what.... they were subjects, they then became citizens.

Sadly, today we are citizens, and if Obama and the democrats have their way, we will become subjects.


20 posted on 07/02/2010 10:33:29 AM PDT by Gator113 (OBAMA IS NOT SUSTAINABLE.. IMPEACH OBAMA NOW..)
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