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When Subjects Became Citizens

An early draft of the Declaration of Independence referred to the people of Britain’s 13 North American colonies as "subjects", the US Library of Congress has revealed. But, in the words of the Washington Post, in 1776 Thomas Jefferson "sought quite methodically to expunge the word, to wipe it out of existence and write over it". At Jefferson’s hand "subjects" became "citizens". According to the newspaper "many words were crossed out and replaced in the draft, but only one was obliterated".

There had been much speculation about what might be behind the smudge on the draft. Spectral imaging technology has revealed the truth.

The sentence in which the deletion was made did not appear in the final version of the Declaration. And neither did the word "subjects". The new Americans were "citizens".

For around 200 years after Jefferson made his deletion the British state continued to insult its citizens by calling them "subjects" of the Windsor family.

Legislators Quit Rather Than Pay Tax Where They Legislate

Four legislators-for-life have quit the House of Lords because they do not want to pay taxes in the country where they have been making laws. The three Conservative and one Labour legislator had a choice between giving up their tax-exempt non-domiciled status or leaving the legislature. One was born in Hong Kong and had been living and working there since becoming a legislator. She said that she would have liked to be able to continue to make laws for Britain but had not been given enough time to "make adjustments to my personal affairs".

A Queen in New York

The Washington Post has described the visit to New York by Elizabeth Windsor, Britain’s feudal head of state, as "subdued". It recalled that when Ms. Windsor first visited in1957 there was "a ticker tape parade befitting war heroes". But when the hereditary ruler addressed the United Nations General Assembly this July "there was hardly a well-wisher to be found outside" the building.

The newspaper suggested that this reflected "a monarchy whose popular appeal has perhaps crested". It reported that one British UN worker was puzzled by her head of state’s visit. However, she said that her "mum thought it was cool".

Historian Stephen Schlesinger pointed out that while this was only the second visit Windsor had made to the UN she more frequently travelled to the United States for the Kentucky Derby.