The Declaration of Independence: Herald of the American Revolution

By the time that the Second Continental Congress first proposed a resolution for a Declaration of Independence from England in June of 1776, the 13 colonies had already been at war with England for over a year. The war had started on April 19^th, 1775, when a contingent of British soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith marched on Lexington and Concord to seize the military supplies held there by colonial militias.




The patriots had heard of the coming of the British, and were prepared for their coming. Paul Revere among others served as the scout, informing the Minutemen (as the colonial militiamen called themselves) of when the British were coming and how they would be coming into Lexington and Concord. Thus came the first battles of the American Revolution.




Despite the fighting, in 1776 it was still unknown exactly what the colonies were fighting for. Were they fighting to repair grievances with England? Or were they fighting for independence, to turn their 13 colonies into a new nation?




Popular opinion was highly mixed, if not leaning towards the side of British loyalty. Thomas Paine's famous pamphlet, "Common Sense," eloquently made the case for independence, however still not everyone was convinced.




In the 2^nd Contintental Congress it was fairly well decided, however, by the summer of 1776 that independence was the only option. And thus, on June 7^th of that year Richard Henry Lee of Virginia brought forth a resolution that the Congress officially declare independence from England.




This led to the creation of a committee to draft this declaration. The members of this committee were: John Adams of Massachusetts, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Roger Sherman of Connecticut. Thomas Jefferson did most of the actual writing of the document, however all of the committee worked upon what would be included and what would not.