We the People

In making a “declaration of independence” and thus a declaration of war against the greatest military power of the era, those who proposed, drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence did so with the utmost sobriety of its potential personal and shared sacrifice, as evidenced by the last line of the document: 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 (Editor’s emphasis). Every one of them was prepared---some maybe more than others---to lay their respective fortunes, businesses, farms and estates, their families, and their very lives at the foot of the alter of personal sacrifice.  Each had counted the cost of their philosophical, religious and patriotic viewpoint which they knew would be readily interpreted by the King of England and Parliament as most high treason against the Crown.

They had counted the cost and were willing to pay the price. They saw no other recourse that would ensure the freedoms they cherished and most fervantly desired to pass on to all future generations of Americans.  They clearly understood their God-given rights to personal freedom and summoned the courage, along with Divine Providence, to fully affirm and defend their beliefs.

It was with this great patriotic emotion and conviction that the Second Continental Congress was convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1776. It would continue to meet---although with a varing makeup of members---throughout America’s fight for independence. All thirteen colonies were represented.  All but nine of the 56 signers were native born and included farmers, businessmen, lawyers, educators of higher learning, doctors and judges. Almost all were protestant Christians, except Roman Catholic Charles Carroll of Maryland. Seventeen served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

Eleven of the signers had their homes and property destroyed by the British or royal sympathizers. Others were imprisoned, lost loved ones, had their businesses and fortunes lost or destroyed, while others wound up destitute after the War. While fifteen of the signers eventually participated in their state constitutional conventions, only six---George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris and James Wilson (all from Pennsylvania), George Read (Delaware) and Roger Sherman (Connecticut) ---were present to sign the United States Constitution in 1787.

At the time of the convening of the First Continental Congress on September 5, 1774 in Philadelphia, the Colonies and their representatives had yet to fully give in to the concept of revolution and full separation from England. Thus, none of the delegates were empowered to declare such.  They were there primarily to try to find the means to reconcile their differences with the Crown and Parliament, seek redress for their many grievances and to fully establish and assert their perceived “unalienable rights” as a free people. However, the tide of opinion in favor of a declaration of independence had been gaining momentum since the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.

As delegates continued to arrive for this second Congress and the convention delegates settled in to address the seriousness of their predicament, on June 7, 1776, Virginian Richard Henry Lee introduced his  momentous resolution, “. . . that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states. . . .” Although it was not immediately voted upon, it was widely popular except among the most moderate of attendees.

Perhaps in an effort to get the independence ball rolling, on June 21, the New Jersey Provincial Congress meeting in Burlington, New Jersey voted 53-3 to break all ties with Britain.

Shortly thereafter, on July 2, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence. Only the delegates from New York abstained from endorsing the proposed declaration. They finally accepted it a week later.

While Congress was voting on the issue of independence, General Washington and his troops were busy constructing Fort Washington and Fort Lee along the east and west banks of the Hudson River. Both forts would fall into British hands four months later.