“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a
way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” - Nelson Mandela
The Declaration of Independence, in U.S.A history, is the document
that was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, announcing the
separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. It
explained why the Congress on July 2 “unanimously” by the votes of 12 colonies
(with New York abstaining) had resolved that “these United Colonies are, and of
right ought to be Free and Independent States.” Accordingly, the day on which
final separation was officially voted was July 2, although the 4th, the day on
which the Declaration of Independence was adopted, has always been celebrated
in the United States as the great national holiday, the Fourth of July, or
Independence Day.
On April 19, 1775, when armed conflict began between Britain and the
13 colonies (the nucleus of the future United States), the Americans claimed
that they sought only their rights within the British Empire. At that time few
of the colonists consciously desired to separate from Britain. As the American
Revolution proceeded during 1775–76 and Britain undertook to assert its
sovereignty by means of large armed forces, making only a gesture toward conciliation,
the majority of Americans increasingly came to believe that they must secure their
rights outside the empire.
The losses and restrictions that came from the war greatly widened
the breach between the colonies and the mother country; moreover, it was
necessary to assert independence in order to secure as much French aid as
possible. On April 12, 1776, the
revolutionary convention of North Carolina specifically authorised its
delegates in Congress to vote for independence. On May 15 the Virginia
convention instructed its deputies to offer the motion, which was brought
forward in the Congress by Richard Henry Lee on June 7. By that time the
Congress had already taken long steps toward severing ties with Britain. It had
denied Parliamentary sovereignty over the colonies as early as December 6,
1775, and it had declared on May 10, 1776, that the authority of the king ought
to be “totally suppressed,” advising all the several colonies to establish
governments of their own choice.
The passage of Lee’s resolution was delayed for several reasons.
Some of the delegates had not yet received authorization to vote for
separation; a few were opposed to taking the final step; and several men, among
them John Dickinson, believed that the formation of a central government,
together with attempts to secure foreign aid, should precede it. However, a
committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger
Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston was promptly chosen on June 11 to prepare a
statement justifying the decision to assert independence, should it be taken.
The document was prepared, and on July 1 nine delegations voted for separation,
despite warm opposition on the part of Dickinson. On the following day at the
Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, with the New
York delegation abstaining only because it lacked permission to act, the Lee
resolution was voted on and endorsed.
The convention of New York gave its consent on July 9, and the New
York delegates voted affirmatively on July 15. On July 19 the Congress ordered
the document to be engrossed as “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen
United States of America.” It was accordingly put on parchment, probably by
Timothy Matlack of Philadelphia. Members of the Congress present on August 2
affixed their signatures to this parchment copy on that day, and others later.
The last signer was Thomas McKean of Delaware, whose name was not placed on the
document before 1777.
The Declaration of Independence was written largely by Thomas
Jefferson, who had displayed talent as a political philosopher and polemicist
in his “A Summary View of the Rights of British America”, published in 1774. At
the request of his fellow committee members he wrote the first draft. The
members of the committee made a number of merely semantic changes, and they
also expanded somewhat the list of charges against the king. The Congress made
more substantial changes, deleting a condemnation of the British people, a
reference to “Scotch & foreign mercenaries” (there were Scots in the
Congress), and a denunciation of the African slave trade (this being offensive
to some Southern and New England delegates).
The Declaration of Independence has also been a source of
inspiration outside the United States. It encouraged Antonio de Nariño and
Francisco de Miranda to strive toward overthrowing the Spanish empire in South
America, and it was quoted with enthusiasm by the Marquis de Mirabeau during
the French Revolution. It remains a great historical landmark in that it
contained the first formal assertion by a whole people of their right to a
government of their own choice. What Locke had contended for as an individual,
the Americans proclaimed as a body politic; moreover, they made good the
argument by force of arms.
Happy Independence Day to all USA readers of this blog!
