Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was a document approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, that announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain[4]. By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain[2].

Background and Political Context

Throughout the 1760s and early 1770s, the North American colonists found themselves increasingly at odds with British imperial policies regarding taxation and frontier policy. When repeated protests failed to influence British policies, and instead resulted in the closing of the port of Boston and the declaration of martial law in Massachusetts, the colonial governments sent delegates to a Continental Congress to coordinate a colonial boycott of British goods[2].

Throughout the winter of 1775–1776, the members of the Continental Congress came to view reconciliation with Britain as unlikely, and independence the only course of action available to them[2]. The colonists were aided by the January publication of Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense, which advocated the colonies' independence and was widely distributed throughout the colonies[2].

The Lee Resolution

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution "that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states," acting under the instruction of the Virginia Convention[12]. On May 15, 1776, an elected convention of Virginia leaders meeting in Williamsburg's Capitol voted to instruct the colony's delegates to the Continental Congress to propose American independence[17].

The Lee Resolution contained three parts: a declaration of independence, a call to form foreign alliances, and "a plan for confederation"[12]. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduces a resolution for independence to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia; John Adams seconds the motion[14].

On Congress's return on July 1, 1776, the first vote of Congress on the Lee Resolution failed, with Pennsylvania and South Carolina voting no and Delaware deadlocked. Finally, on July 2, 1776, Congress reversed course, declaring its independence from Great Britain when the Lee Resolution passed on a second vote, with Delaware, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina voting in the affirmative and New York abstaining[5].

The Continental Congress and the Committee of Five

On June 11, 1776, the Congress appointed three concurrent committees in response to the Lee Resolution: one to draft a declaration of independence, a second to draw up a plan "for forming foreign alliances," and a third to "prepare and digest the form of a confederation"[12].

Although the section of the Lee Resolution dealing with independence was not adopted until July 2, Congress appointed on June 10 a committee of five to draft a statement of independence for the colonies. The committee included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman, with the actual writing delegated to Jefferson[1].

The committee consisted of two New England men, John Adams of Massachusetts and Roger Sherman of Connecticut; two men from the Middle Colonies, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Robert R. Livingston of New York; and one southerner, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia[27].

Drafting and Revision Process

Jefferson drafted the statement between June 11 and 28, submitted drafts to Adams and Franklin who made some changes, and then presented the draft to the Congress following the July 2nd adoption of the independence section of the Lee Resolution[1]. Jefferson had 17 days to produce the document and reportedly wrote a draft in a day or two. In a rented room not far from the State House, he wrote the Declaration with few books and pamphlets beside him, except for a copy of George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights and the draft Virginia Constitution, which Jefferson had written himself[25].

Jefferson then submitted his draft to Franklin and Adams, the two committee members whose opinions he respected most. They made several, mostly stylistic changes to the document that made clearer and more direct the few awkward passages in Jefferson's prose. For example, "sacred & undeniable truths" became simply "self-evident," and "from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable" was rewritten as "they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights"[29].

The congressional revision process took all of July 3rd and most of July 4th. Finally, in the afternoon of July 4th, the Declaration was adopted[1]. They preserved its original form, but struck passages likely to meet with controversy or skepticism, most notably passages blaming King George III for the transatlantic slave trade and those blaming the British people rather than their government[2].

Philosophical Foundations

The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence begins with perhaps its most famous line. "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." This statement echoed the writings of English philosopher John Locke[4].

When the Continental Congress adopted the nation's founding document on July 4, 1776, it was a call for the right to statehood rather than individual liberties, says Stanford historian Jack Rakove[3]. The Declaration, in its remarkable concision, gives us self-evident truths that form the premises of the right to revolution and the capacity to create new governments resting on popular consent[3].

Printing and Distribution

Under the supervision of the Jefferson committee, the approved Declaration was printed on July 5th and a copy was attached to the "rough journal of the Continental Congress for July 4th"[1]. These printed copies, bearing only the names of John Hancock, President, and Charles Thomson, secretary, were distributed to state assemblies, conventions, committees of safety, and commanding officers of the Continental troops[1].

Once the Congress approved the actual Declaration of Independence document on July 4, it was sent to a printer named John Dunlap. About 200 copies of the Dunlap Broadside were printed, with John Hancock's name printed at the bottom[6].

The Signing Process

On July 19th, Congress ordered that the Declaration be engrossed on parchment with a new title, "the unanimous declaration of the thirteen united states of America," and "that the same, when" On August 2nd John Hancock, the President of the Congress, signed the engrossed copy with a bold signature[1].

The other delegates, following custom, signed beginning at the right with the signatures arranged by states from northernmost New Hampshire to southernmost Georgia. Although all delegates were not present on August 2nd, 56 delegates eventually signed the document[1].

However, the signers' names weren't released publicly until early 1777, when Congress allowed the printing of an official copy with the names attached. On January 18, 1777 printer Mary Katherine Goddard's version printed in Baltimore indicated the delegates "desired to have the same put on record," and there was a signature from John Hancock authenticating the printing[6].

International and Domestic Impact

By declaring themselves an independent nation, the American colonists were able to confirm an official alliance with the Government of France and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain[2]. The Declaration's most important diplomatic effect was to allow for recognition of the United States by friendly foreign governments[2].

The British Government did its best to dismiss the Declaration as a trivial document issued by disgruntled colonists. British officials commissioned propagandists to highlight the declaration's flaws and to rebut the colonists' complaints[2]. The Declaration divided British domestic opposition, as some American sympathizers thought the Declaration had gone too far, but in British-ruled Ireland it had many supporters[2].