In the HBO movie “John Adams”, John Adams asks Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence. “Why me?” asks Jefferson. “I have a great opinion of the elegance of your pen,” is John Adams’ third reason.
Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson) and John Adams (Paul Giamatti) review Jefferson’s draft. Benjamin Franklin to Jefferson: “You lay the evils of slavery at the feet of the King but you say nothing of slavery itself sir.”
