6 - 4 Declaring Independence
ONE
AMERICAN'S STORY
In May 1775-one month
after the battle at Lexington and Concord- Abigail Adams wrote to
her husband, John Adams. "The house is a Scene of Confusion," she said.
Colonial militiamen were camped outside. Everyone was preparing for war. John
Adams was away in Philadelphia at the time, meeting with other Patriot
leaders at the Second Continental Congress.
Abigail
and John Adams would spend most of the Revolutionary War apart. In his absence,
she ran the household and farm in Braintree, Massachusetts, and raised their four children.
During their separation, they exchanged many letters. Abigail was a very sharp
observer of the political scene. In one letter, she shared her concerns about
the future of the American government.
A VOICE FROM THE
PAST
If we separate from Britain, what Code of Laws will be
established? How shall we be governed so as to retain our Liberties? Can any
government be free which is not administered by general stated Laws? Who shall
frame these Laws? Who will give them force and energy?
Abigail Adams, quoted in Abigail Adams:
Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober
These questions would be answered later. First, a war had to
be fought and won.
The
Continental Army Is Formed
After the fighting at
Lexington and Concord, militiamen from Massachusetts and other colonies began gathering
around Boston. Their numbers eventually reached some 20,000. General Gage
decided to move his soldiers from the peninsula opposite Boston to the city itself. Boston was nearly surrounded by water.
This fact, he thought, made a colonial attack by land almost impossible.
Not long after, on May
10, 1775,
Americans attacked Britain's Fort Ticonderoga on the New York side of Lake Champlain. Ethan Allen led this band of
backwoodsmen known as the Green Mountain Boys. They captured the fort and its
large supply of artillery-cannon and large guns. These guns would be used later
to drive the British from Boston.
Also on May 10, the
Second Continental Congress began meeting in Philadelphia. Delegates included John and Samuel
Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Patrick Henry.
They agreed to form the Continental Army. Washington, who was from Virginia, was chosen as its commanding
general. He had served as a colonial officer with the British during the French
and Indian War. Congress also authorized the printing of paper money to pay the
troops. It was beginning to act as a government.
The Battle of Bunker
Hill Meanwhile, tensions were building in Boston in June 1775. Militiamen seized Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill behind Charlestown. They built fortifications on Breed's Hill. Alarmed, the British decided to
attack.
General
William Howe crossed the bay with 2,200 British soldiers. Forming in ranks,
they marched up Breed's Hill. On the hilltop, the militia waited. According to the
legend, Colonel William Prescott ordered, "Don't fire until you see the
whites of their eyes!" When the British got close, the militia unleashed
murderous fire. The British fell back and then charged again. Finally, they
forced the militia off the hill.
The redcoats had won the Battle of Bunker Hill, but at tremendous cost. More than
1,000 were killed or wounded, compared with some 400 militia casualties.
"The loss we have sustained is greater than we can bear," wrote
General Gage. The inexperienced colonial militia had held its own against the
world's most powerful army.
A Last Attempt at Peace
Despite this deepening conflict, most colonists still hoped
for peace. Even some Patriot leaders considered themselves loyal subjects of
the king. They blamed Parliament for the terrible events taking place.
In July 1775,
moderates in Congress drafted the Olive Branch Petition and sent it to London. This document asked the king to
restore harmony between Britain and the colonies. Some members
opposed the petition but signed it anyway as a last hope.
The king rejected the
petition, however, and announced new measures to punish the colonies. He would
use the British navy to block American ships from leaving their ports. He also
would send thousands of hired German soldiers, called Hessians, to fight in America. "When once these rebels have
felt a smart blow, they will submit," he declared.
The colonial forces were not going to back down, though.
They thought they were equal to the British troops. George Washington knew
otherwise. The British soldiers were professionals, while the colonial troops
had little training and were poorly equipped. The Massachusetts militia barely had enough gunpowder
to fight one battle.
During the summer of 1775, Washington arrived at the militia camp near Boston. He immediately began to gather
supplies and train the army. In the fall, Washington approved a bold plan. Continental
Army troops would invade Quebec, in eastern Canada. They hoped to defeat British
forces there and draw Canadians into the Patriot camp. One of the leaders of
this expedition was Benedict Arnold. He was an officer who had played a role in
the victory at Fort Ticonderoga.
After a grueling march across Maine, Arnold arrived at Quebec in November 1775. By that time,
however, winter had set in. Under harsh conditions, the Americans launched
their attack but failed. After several months, they limped home in defeat.
The British
Retreat from Boston
In Massachusetts, the Continental Army had
surrounded British forces in Boston. Neither side was able or willing
to break the standoff. However, help for Washington was on the way. Cannons were being
hauled from Fort Ticonderoga. This was a rough job, since there
were no roads across the snow-covered mountains. It took soldiers two months to
drag the 59 heavy weapons to Boston, where they arrived in January
1776.
Armed with these cannons, Washington moved his troops to Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston. The Americans threatened to
bombard the city. General Howe, who was now in charge of the British forces,
decided to withdraw his troops. On March 17, about 9,000 British soldiers
departed Boston in more than 100 ships. Boston Patriots joyfully reclaimed
their city. Although the British had damaged homes and destroyed possessions, Boston was still standing.
More than 1,000 Loyalist supporters left along
with the British troops. Anti-British feeling in Boston was so strong that the Loyalists
feared for their safety. Some Patriots even called for Loyalists to be hanged
as traitors. This did not happen, but Loyalists' homes and property were
seized.
Common Sense Is Published
In early 1776, most Americans still wanted to avoid a final
break with Britain. However, the publication of a
pamphlet titled Common Sense helped convince many Americans that a complete
break with Britain was necessary. Written by Thomas Paine,
a recent immigrant from England, this pamphlet made a strong case
for American independence.
Paine ridiculed the idea that kings ruled by the will of
God. Calling George III "the Royal Brute," Paine argued that all
monarchies were corrupt. He also disagreed with the economic arguments for
remaining with Britain. "Our corn," he said,
"will fetch its price in any market in Europe." He believed that America should follow its own destiny.
A VOICE FROM THE PAST
Everything that is right or natural pleads for
separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature
cries, "'Tis time to part." Even the
distance at which the Almighty has placed England and America is a strong and natural proof that
the authority of the one over the other was never the design of heaven.
Thomas Paine, Common Sense
Common Sense was an
instant success. Published in January, it sold more than 100,000 copies in
three months. The call for independence had become a roar.
A Time of Decision
The Continental
Congress remained undecided. A majority of the delegates still did not support
independence. Even so, in May 1776, Congress adopted a resolution authorizing
each of the 13 colonies to establish its own government.
On June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a key resolution. It
called the colonies "free and independent states" and declared that
"all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is . . . totally dissolved."
Congress debated the resolution, but not all the delegates were ready to vote
on it. They did, however, appoint a committee to draft a Declaration of
Independence. The committee included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger
Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson.
The group chose Jefferson to compose the Declaration. Two reasons for
selecting Jefferson were that he was an excellent writer
and that he came from Virginia. The members knew that no
independence movement could succeed without Virginia's support. Jefferson immediately went to work. In two
weeks, he had prepared most of the Declaration. On July 2, 1776, Congress considered Lee's
resolution again. Despite some strong opposition, the measure passed. From this
point forward, the colonies considered themselves independent.
The Declaration Is Adopted
Two days later, on July
4, 1776,
Congress adopted the document that proclaimed independence-the Declaration of
Independence. John Hancock, the president of the Congress, was the first to
sign the Declaration. According to tradition, he wrote in large letters and
commented, "There, I guess King George will be able to read that."
The core idea of the Declaration is based on the philosophy of John Locke. This
idea is that people have unalienable rights, or rights that government cannot
take away. Jefferson stated this belief in what was to
become the Declaration's best-known passage.
A VOICE FROM THE PAST
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Thomas Jefferson, The
Declaration of Independence
If a government
disregards these rights, Jefferson explained, it loses its right to govern. The people then
have the right to abolish that government, by force if necessary. They can form
a new government that will protect their rights. When Jefferson spoke of "the people,"
however, he meant only free white men. Women and enslaved persons were left out
of the Declaration.
The Declaration also
explained the reasons for breaking with Britain. It then declared the colonies to
be free and independent states. This was a very
serious action- treason from the British point of view-and the delegates knew
it. John Hancock urged the delegates to stand together in mutual defense. Each
realized that if the war were to be lost, they would most likely be hanged.
The Declaration closed with this pledge: "And for the
support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other
our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
Americans had declared independence. Now they had to win
their freedom on the battlefield.