Question

Which statement was in an early draft of the Declaration of Independence, but not in the final version? A. Britain took way colonists' natural rights. B. Slavery was evil. C. Parliament should include representatives from the colonies. D. Governments must be based on the consent of the people.

Answer 1

B. Slavery was evil

In his original draft of the Declaration, Jefferson condemned the slave trade carried on by the British.  (Yes, Jefferson himself owned slaves he had inherited, but saw an eventual emancipation of slaves as something that would need to be done over time.)  The paragraph in the draft of the Declaration said that the King of England "has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty" by capturing, transporting and selling human beings from the distant land of Africa.  He called the "market where men should be bought and sold" an "execrable commerce" carried on by authority of the British crown.  ("Execrable" is an adjective related to excrement -- something extremely nasty.)  

Georgia and South Carolina would not join in voting for independence from Britain unless the paragraph about the evil of the slave trade was omitted, and so it was omitted from the final version.