Declaration of Independence

V

First Continental Congress

Protests grew stronger as other colonies also felt threatened and came to the defense of Massachusetts. Groups called Committees of Correspondence organized communication networks to publicize British actions and encourage demonstrations of defiance. Soon these committees and some colonial legislatures issued a call for an all-colony congress to discuss other appropriate responses to Britain’s actions. The Continental Congress first met in Philadelphia from September to the end of October 1774. This body did not plan for war; instead, it debated the extent to which the colonies should carry their resistance to Great Britain. The First Continental Congress passed a resolution on October 14 called the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, which denied the power of Parliament to tax the colonies and presented the king of England with a list of grievances. On October 20 the congress also set up a Continental Association, composed of committees from each colony, to enforce the boycott of British imports and institute a ban on exports if Parliament did not repeal the Intolerable Acts.

Representatives to the Continental Congress declared that they had written both measures as loyal Englishmen. In the first document, they expressed the hope that 'their fellow subjects in Great Britain' would restore the relationship they had previously held with the colonies. The resolution for the Continental Association opened with the phrase 'We, his majesty's most loyal subjects….' Between 1765 and the beginning of 1775 the story of the resistance movement remains focused on colonial protest and actions taken as British subjects. The movement of events did not follow a single line of progression. Instead, there was give-and-take, with both sides never quite understanding one another. After the First Continental Congress, however, events took a dramatic turn that transformed these professions of loyalty into charges that the king and Parliament had no right to interfere in colonial affairs.

VI

Hostilities Begin

The Intolerable Acts had outraged the people of Boston, but they also provoked colonists outside of the city because of provisions limiting local government and placing the colony more directly under British authority. Farmers throughout Massachusetts armed themselves, practiced drills, and otherwise prepared for a confrontation with the British army occupying Boston. The stage was set for the outbreak of hostilities, which began on April 19, 1775. General Thomas Gage, the royal governor of colonial Massachusetts, ordered British troops to march on the small towns of Lexington and Concord, not far from Boston. The soldiers were told to capture resistance leaders and destroy arms and supplies. A battle began when the British troops exchanged fire in Lexington with a small company of minutemen, the colonial volunteers who were prepared to fight at a moment’s notice. The Americans were defeated at Lexington, but won a victory at North Bridge in Concord. More importantly, the colonial troops inflicted heavy casualties on the British as they returned to Boston. See also Lexington, Battle of; Concord, Battle of.

The First Continental Congress had made provisions to meet again in May 1775 if the king did not address colonial grievances. When the Second Continental Congress convened as scheduled, American militia had surrounded Boston, and a full-scale war loomed. The delegates assumed the responsibilities of a provisional government, including the tasks of printing money and creating the Continental Army, but they still hesitated to make the final move toward independence. In July, they sent one last plea to the king, often called the Olive Branch Petition, asking him to repeal the hated laws. Soon thereafter they also issued a “Declaration of the causes and necessity for taking up arms,” explaining the reasons for their actions and promising to stop fighting as soon as the British government met their demands. But King George III ignored their appeals; in August 1775 he issued a proclamation declaring the colonies to be in a state of rebellion and ordering all of his officers and loyal subjects to suppress the revolt 'and bring the traitors to justice.' During the following year, the Continental Congress edged toward the Declaration of Independence.

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VII

Common Sense

The publication of Common Sense by Thomas Paine in January 1776 helped convince many Americans of the need for independence. In this pamphlet, Paine, a magazine editor and writer newly arrived from England, attacked the king, the idea of royalty, and even the notion that there should be an aristocracy. In eloquent yet biting language, Paine also made a direct appeal for a manifesto or proclamation establishing American independence. The pamphlet had an electrifying effect on hundreds of thousands of colonists. By the spring of 1776 local Committees of Correspondence and some state legislatures began to call openly for independence.

VIII

Independence Resolution

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, a representative from Virginia, proposed a resolution in the Continental Congress 'that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent States.' This measure sought to end America’s allegiance to the Crown and dissolve all political connection with Great Britain. Although the Continental Congress did not pass the resolution until July 2, it immediately appointed a committee to draft a formal statement of independence. This committee included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.

IX

Jefferson’s Declaration

The task of drafting the declaration fell to Jefferson, who was known for his powerful writing style. Jefferson divided the document into three major parts. The first section contained a statement of principle that discussed the rights of man and the legitimacy of revolution. The second presented a long list of grievances that provided the rationale for rebellion. Jefferson did not direct these grievances at Parliament, but at King George III, who made an easily identifiable villain. The third and last portion of the declaration included the formal announcement of independence. Jefferson intended the document “to be an expression of the American mind,” but the eloquence of the phrasing was his own.

Benjamin Franklin and John Adams made some adjustments to Jefferson’s draft before the committee submitted it to the Continental Congress on June 28, 1776. Opposition to the document continued among a few representatives, including John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, who favored appeasing the British rather than risking the instability of a revolution. Other delegations were split in their views. Delaware representative Caesar Rodney, who had not been in attendance, rode 80 miles by horseback to reach Philadelphia and break a tie between the two other Delaware delegates, ensuring that Delaware would support independence.

Representatives officially voted for independence on July 2, 1776. The New York delegation abstained from the voting because they had not yet received orders from the New York convention to support the measure. After the vote on July 2, representatives then began to debate the actual text of the declaration. They made only a few changes; most significant was the deletion of Jefferson's accusation that the British Crown had promoted the slave trade in America. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to accept the final version of the Declaration of Independence. New York again abstained, although its delegation was authorized to ratify the independence resolution on July 9, 1776. Most of the delegates signed an official copy on August 2, with three absent members adding their signatures later. A few delegates such as John Dickinson continued to have doubts about the wisdom of independence and never actually signed the document.

Thomas Jefferson claimed that he used 'neither book nor pamphlet' when writing the declaration, but his work reflected a broad understanding of 18th-century political thought. Perhaps the greatest influence on Jefferson came from Enlightenment thinkers. These philosophers believed that the natural world was organized in a logical and reasonable pattern. While acknowledging that this pattern derived from the ultimate wisdom of God, they also held that the world was understandable through the powers of human reason. The writings of French, English, and Scottish Enlightenment philosophers frequently presented the concept that all men are created equal and possess certain inalienable rights. Jefferson’s belief in the social contract came from British political philosopher John Locke, who argued that government existed by consent of the governed and that people should rebel if their natural rights were violated. Even the long list of grievances against King George III reflected 18th-century philosophy. According to prevalent thinking during the Age of Enlightenment, any deviation from the natural and reasonable course of events, including the perceived abuse of the American colonies, resulted from the actions of evil men rather than a whim of nature.

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