The Declaration of Independence

Movies about historical events spur viewers to dive into the reference library to check and expand on the facts presented. One such film that won the Academy Awards Best Short Subject, November 1938's "Declaration of Independence," dramatized the situation leading up to the July 2, 1776 signing of the document in Philadelphia to be presented to the king of England. The Warner Brothers re-enactment of the event is one of the very few movies dealing with the American Revolution.

"Declaration of Independence" was one episode in Warner Brothers' series of short films dealing with the history of the United States. The Oscar winner focused on the complexities of the tension surrounding those who wanted to break away completely from England while the Loyalists and Tories fiercely opposed such moves. At 17 minutes, the film condenses the events of the drafting, voting and signing of the statement to be handed over to King George III.

A few obscure but historically accurate points are made in the short movie. The delegates to the Continental Congress who decided on whether to write the declaration were a diverse group representing all 13 colonies. The body wanted unanimous approval from those colonies, but failed to achieve that goal since one of them, New York, abstained while Delaware's delegates were split before the deciding vote was to take place. Delaware's Caesar Rodney, who favored passage, was delayed in attending the conference and left his home state at the last minute. His 80-mile ride from Dover, Delaware, to Philadelphia, just as the final vote was underway, was as dramatic as Paul Revere's ride in Massachusetts a year earlier. Rodney and his horse are portrayed on Delaware's state quarter struck in 1999 depicting his galloping to Philadelphia to make his vote count.

The documentary also portrayed the author of the declaration, Thomas Jefferson, wanting to include an anti-slavery clause in the independence statement. But he was overruled by those who opposed, citing that a couple of Southern states as well as the New England ones would vote against its passage since the thriving slave trade was lucrative to those northern states' shipping merchants in the African human trafficking. The Technicolor short was directed by Crane Wilber, a former actor who was the male lead in 1914's "The Perils of Pauline." Wilber later became a writer, scripting the screenplay for 1953's "House of Wax."