Who was Thomas Jefferson? Thomas Jefferson was the primary draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the nation's first secretary of state (1789–94), its second vice president (1797–1801), and, as the third president (1801–09), the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase.

After much debate The Declaration of Independence went through several alterations, emitting, and delting the knowledge of African decendants now known as African Americans. Thomas Jefferson states,"The clause...reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of Africa, was struck out in compliance to South Carolina and Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and who on the contrary still wished to continue it. Our Northern brethren also I believe felt a little tender under these censures; for tho' their people have very few slaves themselves, yet they had been pretty considerable carriers of them to others.”

The People's Living Declaration of Independence

The draft of the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson contained several passages that were later removed or modified by the other members of the Continental Congress before the document was adopted on July 4, 1776. One of the removed passages addressed slavery and King George's inciting of slave revolts, but was seen as too inflammatory and jeopardizing the support of the Southern colonies. The passage in question read:

“He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or incurring miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of INFIDEL powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where Men should be bought & and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce.

And that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, & murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the LIBERTIES of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the LIVES of another.”

It is important for us to remember that in the wisdom of our founding father, Thomas Jefferson. he witnessed firsthand, and from the essence of his soul, this passage was created. AFTER EXPERIENCING THE PLIGHT OF SLAVERY IN A DARK TIME IN OUR AMERICAN HISTORY, THIS PASSAGE WAS CARVED FROM THE ESSENCE OF HIS SOUL. We honor the ideals of the Declaration, even if we have not always lived up to them. The institution of slavery is a sad and troubling history that we must yet still fully acknowledge and confront as a nation. By reintroducing Jefferson's passage about slavery back to create a People's Living Declaration of Independence, we can reaffirm our commitment to these ideals and work towards a more just and equitable society.

In 1776, when the nation’s Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson created the manuscript for the Declaration of Independence, a plethora of civil rights, and liberties were granted. However, 168 words from this manuscript were unfortunately omitted. In this document, a system was set in place to ensure citizens would not be subject to enslavement, discrimination, and inequalities. For centuries, African Americans have endured the listed racial injustices, that were once considered a crime against humanity. At “168 Words” we seek the aid and integration of the advocates focused on tackling racial justice, and take on the agenda at hand.