The History Book

204

WE HOLD THESE

TRUTHS TO BE

SELF-EVIDENT,

THAT ALL MEN ARE

CREATED EQUAL

THE SIGNING OF THE DECLARATION

OF INDEPENDENCE (1776)

T

here has been no more

daring assertion of

statehood than that

proclaimed by the Declaration of

Independence, adopted by the

Second Continental Congress

on July 4, 1776 and signed by all

56 delegates present. What would

become the United States consisted

of 13 British colonies, steadily

established since the 17th century,

and scattered along the east coast

of North America. They were not

just geographically remote from

their mother country; most were

also geographically remote from

each other. Their economies were

fragile, and they had no coherent

political identity—citizens of

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

The American Revolution

BEFORE

1773 Boston Tea Party

protests tax on tea imports.

1775 Armed clashes take

place between patriot militia

and British forces.

AFTER

1777 British defeat at Saratoga

persuades France to support

the American rebels.

1781 The British surrender

at Yorktown, Virginia.

1783 Britain recognizes

American independence.

1787 Drafting of the

Constitution begins.

1789 George Washington

is elected as the first president

of the United States.

1790 The US Constitution

is ratified.

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205

See also: The Battle of Quebec 191 ■ The storming of the Bastille 208–13 ■ The Slave Trade Abolition Act 226–27 ■

The 1848 revolutions 228–29 ■ The Gettysburg Address 244–47 ■ The California Gold Rush 248–49

Virginia considered themselves

to be Virginians, for example, not

Americans—beyond an increasingly

strained loyalty to the British crown.

However, the colonies were also

remarkably self-aware and acutely

conscious of Enlightenment notions

of political liberty, and they were

concerned that their freedom

would come under threat as a

result of British rule. Unable to

assert their own natural rights, and

subjected to what they considered

unreasonably imposed taxes, the

colonists questioned why a distant

parliament and a distant king

should impose their will on them.

Impelled by a series of exceptional

leaders, in 1776 they not only

rejected British authority, but

they set about establishing an

entirely new kind of state in which

government would derive from

“the consent of the governed.”

This explosively novel idea would

lead to the creation of a new and

enduring republican government.

Support for a formal assertion

of American independence was

far from universal in the colonies,

however. Five states in particular—

New York, New Jersey, Maryland,

Delaware, and Pennsylvania—

feared it would damage trade and,

if unsuccessful, provoke harsh

reprisals from Britain. In the same

way, as many as 500,000 of a

population of 2.5 million remained

CHANGING SOCIETIES

American victory in the war with

the British government leads to the recognition

of independence.

The Declaration of Independence

is issued.

American colonists’ protests against taxes

imposed by Britain lead to conflict

with the British government.

France and Britain’s new ideals of political

liberty take hold in Britain’s American colonies.

loyal to the British crown to the end

of the conflict, many subsequently

settling in Canada.

The conflict takes shape

It would take a drawn-out and

bitterly fought war to make

independence into reality. Britain

was determined to assert what it

saw as its legitimate rule, while

the hastily assembled forces of the

nascent United States were no less

determined to assert what they

saw as their right to independence.

The two modest armies—Britain’s,

because of the difficulties of sending

forces en masse to America; the

colonists’, because they consistently

lacked the means to raise and equip

any substantial fighting force—

confronted each other in a series of

minor engagements over six years.

At their peak, the American

forces numbered scarcely 40,000

and had almost no navy at all.

Britain deployed about the same

number of soldiers but in addition

had a vastly greater number of

ships. In 1778, however, France

declared support for the colonists

and sent 5,000 troops and a

substantial fleet. Facing certain ❯❯

These United Colonies are,

and of Right ought to be Free

and Independent States.

Richard Henry Lee

Proposed resolution at the Second

Continental Congress (June 1776)

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