Vol. 2 - July - No. 34
American Independence
With greater support from France and general public opinion shifting away from Britain, the American Congress moved to break the mid-Atlantic stalemate. On May 15, 1776, when the delegates voted to suppress, "every kind of authority" under the British Crown, they gave radicals an opportunity to seize power in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Moderates remained in control in New York, Delaware, and Maryland, but they reluctantly accepted independence as inevitable. In early June, Congress postponed a vote on independence, but named a committee of five, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, to prepare a declaration that would justify American independence to the world.With the necessary votes in place, Congress on July 2 passed Richard Henry Lee's resolution "that these United colonies are, and of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States; …and that all political connexion between them, and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." On that same day, the first ships of the largest armada yet sent across the Atlantic by any European state began landing British soldiers on Staten Island. Two days later, on July 4, twelve colonies, with only New York abstaining, unanimously approved Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, as amended by Congress. Americans had announced their independence at the very moment they faced a military challenge from Britain more enormous than any previously faced. Independence would be earned.
learn more about this fascinating subject:
Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents
Charter of Freedom: The Declaration of Independence
American Independence
The War for American Independence
