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While writing the Declaration of Independence, the delegates debated many things, including deep-sea fishing rights and what the national bird should be. However, one of the most significant and long-lasting debates that happened in the Continental Congress was the debate over slavery. In the initial drafts of the Declaration, Jefferson included that all people living in America were free citizens, something that his pro-slavery counterparts in Congress took issue with. The entire southern contingent threatened to withhold their signatures from the document unless the anti-slavery clauses were removed. Eventually, Jefferson allowed the slavery passages to be taken out of the Declaration because he believed that American independence was more important - once America was independent from Britain, the slaves could be freed by the American government.

This freeing of the slaves did not happen until the Civil War, long after Jefferson had died. The deep-seated causes of the Civil War can be seen in the debates over slavery during the writing of the Declaration of Independence.

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