TheIlc cb u uOl1of
Indrp<Tuk1K..-.
IN COXGRESS, JULY4 , '716.
Byth efollowingyear th e fig htinghadspread beyo nd
Massac h usetts.Ith ad gro wn in toa fu ll-scalew ar.
OnJuly2, 1776 , th eContin ental Co ngress finally
took the stepthat mall Y American sbelieved was
inevitable.Itn it all po litical tics withBritain and
declaredth at " theseU ni ted C o lo niesan.', andofright
ough ttobe,free andindependentstates."·1\ v 0 days
later. on J uly~,itiss uedth e[) a larati""of
Independence,
TheD edaronon,~flndependcnccis the mo stunpon anr
document i nAmericanh isto ry. ltwasw rittenby
Tho ma sj eff erso n .a Landowne rand lawyerfrom
Virg inia.Aft er r epeatingthat the colonieswerenow
"freeandindependentstates." itofficiallynamed
themtheUnitedSlatesofAmerica.
Oneo f th e firstmembers o ftheConrincnral
Cong resstosig nth eD cdaratio nojbJdl'pmdmlt'w asJ oh nH anco ck o f Massach u sett s.Hanco ckpickedup
thepen andw rot ehisnamein large. clear letters-
" largeenough,"h e said ,"for KingGeorgeto rea d
withouthis specta cles."
TheDcciaratiouofJlld CI'Clld CJ1(Cw asm o r e thana
sta tementth at th eco lo n ieswerea new nation. Itabo
setour the ideasbehind the change thatw asb ein g
made .Itclaimed[hat all menh adanatural rightto
" Life,libert y and thepursui tofhappiness."Italso
saidthatgovern mentscanonlyjustlyclaimth eTIght
toruleif theyhaveth eagreementofthosethey
govern-"theconsentofthegoverned. "
Id eas such as thesewereacentralpartofthe-po liti cal
traditions thatthecolonists'an cesto rshad brought
w it h themfromEngland.Coloniallea ders hadalso
studiedtheminthewritingsofan Engli sh political
thinkernamedj o hn Locke. Menlike JetTerso n
com bined Lo cke's ideaswiththeiro w nl'xpcn en cco f
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