Page 87 - JM Book 9/2020

Wednesday, July 3, 1776
Jefferson recorded the outside afternoon temperature at one-thirty to be seventy-six degrees.
“These horseflies are a constant nuisance,” Jefferson leaned over and whispered to Benjamin Franklin. “This window seems
to be their favorite gateway into the room. My stockings are not offering any protection for my legs whatsoever. I am sorry, but we have to ask McNair to close this window again.”
“The heat is unbearable with the windows closed,” responded Franklin, “but the horseflies are worse.”
The delegates made it a practice to keep the windows and doors shut to prevent news of their activities from becoming public. Andrew McNair, the congressional custodian, was permitted to open the windows from time-to-time to let the hot air out and the fresh air in. Unfortunately, horseflies from the nearby stable prompted McNair to keep the windows closed most of the time.
The clothing the men wore added to their discomfort. The typical eighteenth- century man wore a three-piece suit – coat, waistcoat and knee-length breeches – a white linen, long sleeved shirt with a white linen cravat wrapped around his neck, and a pair of cotton or linen stockings that were tucked under the breeches. A wig often covered their heads.
Like most of the other delegates, Jefferson and Franklin had removed their coats and unbuttoned their waistcoats. Fortunately, neither of them wore a wig. Jefferson sat anxiously while the delegates reviewed the declaration. He
continued to agonize over each deletion and change that was made.
He moved his chair closer to Franklin and in a low voice began to speak. “I do not understand why they have to make so many changes. The document I wrote did not find new principles or new arguments . . . but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to
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