Editor’s Note: I was going to post the next few articles on the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights in the order in which they occurred. However, with today being July 4, 2021, I decided it would be appropriate to post my writing on the Declaration of Independence to commemorate this significant date in the world’s history. I will next publish my post on the Mayflower Compact in the next few days. Happy Independence Day!!
The Seven Years War, or the French and Indian War (as we refer to it in the United States) was a war on multiple continents between the British and French. It started in the New World when young Col. George Washington of the British Virginia Militia led an ambush on the French troops at Jumonville Glen (near modern-day Pittsburg, PA), on May 28, 1754. The war became very pricey for the British Crown.
In an effort to pay for the War, between 1756 and 1773, British Parliament issued a series of taxes on the colonies, including the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Duties of 1766, and the Tea Act of 1773. Although the taxes levied were relatively light, they were met with resistance based on the principle of “no taxation without representation.” Led by historical luminaries such as Samuel Adams (a local Boston Brewer), the Sons of Liberty organized rallies to reject the taxes being levied upon them. But nothing seemed to be working, and the colonists felt like second-class citizens of the King.
In mid-1776, after fighting between the Colonists and the British officially had broken out, each of the British American colonies sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress for the purpose of declaring independence from the British Empire.
On June 11, 1776, the Continental Congress chose a committee of five men–John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert Livingston of New York, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia–to draft and present to the full Congress a declaration of their independence. This Committee of Five, as it became known, selected Jefferson to pen the original draft.
Known for his writing style and fluidity with words, Jefferson took the next 17 days to prepare a draft and submitted it to the rest of the select committee. With some revisions, the committee unanimously approved the Declaration before presenting it to the full Congress for its approval. On Wednesday, July 3, 1776, President John Hancock presided over the Congress who unanimously accepted the document then known as “A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled.”
In the 1300-word+ letter to King George III, the Declaration itself can be broken out into seven parts:
- Introduction
- Preamble
- Indictment or grievances against the Crown
- Repeated and ignored warnings
- Denunciation
- Conclusion and statement of Independence
- Signatures
The Introduction to the Declaration states, “When in the course of human events…” it becomes necessary for one nation to dissolve its ties to another nation, the reasons for doing so should be enumerated. Basically, it’s announcing the breakup of the relationship with Great Britain… “Dear John (or George).”
The Preamble gives the reasons for revolution. It contains the most oft-quoted section of the Declaration of Independence. “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.” Jefferson then goes on to declare that governments are instituted among men to secure these rights. When those rights are endangered, it becomes the obligation of those harmed to get rid of the old form of government and start a new form of government which protects their safety and happiness.
Also in the Preamble, Jefferson states that government should not be changed lightly, but while “suffering” is bearable, they should endure. “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations” continues beyond what is sufferable, “it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
The next section, the Indictment against the Crown, lists 27 different grievances the King has laid at the feet of the colonies. “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.” Included in this list are:
- Forbidding colonial governments to pass laws the colonies deemed necessary for safety and happiness
- Dissolving legislatures for opposing with “manly firmness” invasions on the rights of the people
- Refusing to let other legislatures be elected after dissolving them
- Requiring judges to uphold the King’s will only
- Quartering (housing) large armies in the colonies
- Cutting off trade with other parts of the world
- Imposing taxes on the colonies without their consent
- Declaring the colonies at war with Britain
- Constraining American sailors taken captive on the seas to fight against their brothers
This list is incomplete, but as you can see, there are a lot of heavy grievances the colonies had to deal with, which propelled them to revolt.
The section about Failed Warnings says, in summary, “We told you we were going to do this, time after time. We didn’t want to originally, because we are brothers who share a common heritage and language. But you failed to heed our warning. So here we are.”
The Denunciation finishes the case for independence and is very short. It states, “We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.” Basically, “Because you have failed to recognize our repeated warnings, we must go to war to fight for our right to self-government.”
Finally, in a closing paragraph unlike any written to that date in history, they declare their independence as representatives of the United Colonies.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states.
They declare their right to wage war, make peace, establish commerce and enact laws commensurate with a free and independent state. Then the closing line of the document, in my view, is the most poetic and terrifying at the same time:
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.
Fifty-six men, the signers of the Declaration of Independence, from each of the British American colonies had just performed an act of treason against the British Crown. They knew it, but were willing to pledge themselves to the cause of freedom from tyranny. The most famous of these signatures–because it was the largest–was John Hancock. He was the president of the Congress at that time and was responsible for attesting, or affirming to be true, the document voted on by Congress. In fact, his was the only signature on it for nearly six months as it was printed in broadsides around the country. Later, two future presidents of the United States (John Adams and Thomas Jefferson) would attach their signatures.
The Declaration of Independence, even at the time, was revolutionary. It was the first of its kind to challenge the Divine Right of Kings, a doctrine that a monarch derives his or her power directly from God. By declaring that “all men are created equal,” the Founding Fathers were stating that no king or queen was better than anyone else. With the “unalienable rights” they claimed, they sought to re-establish equal rights with their peers in England.
It wasn’t the first to be written, nor was it the first to declare cessation of ties to a king. But it was the first to declare that all men were created equal and had rights given to them from God. It was also the first to declare war on the former sovereign. Before 1776, there were two declarations of independence in the history of the world. Since 1776, there have been approximately 120 declarations of independence made by different countries and different peoples. Some countries have declared independence more than once, and several of the Confederate States individually declared independence from the United States using our Declaration of Independence as the model.
What Thomas Jefferson and the Committee of Five presented to the Second Continental Congress on that hot July day in Philadelphia changed the world. It gave people the realization that they have the right to a free and independent government set up away from the usurpations of a tyrannical government.