 America's
Declaration of Independence
And the Events That Led to it
By Paul Schnaufer"When in the course of human events it becomes
necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the
earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature
and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.
This famous first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence
marks the beginning of what would become the United States of
America. It is the second most treasured document in American
history, next to the Constitution, and is also important world wide,
as it began an 18th century trend of revolution and independence
that quickly spread through Europe and South America, and eventually
throughout the globe. But at the time of writing this document,
Thomas Jefferson's thoughts lay strictly on freeing himself and his
countrymen from what he considered the tyrant rule of England's King
George III.
In the Declaration, Jefferson and the 2nd Continental Congress
wrote over 25 reasons why King George III rule was unjust, yet only
twenty-five years before independence was declared, most Americans
were proud of their English government.
So how did Americans' opinion transformed so drastically in one
generation, from contentment under English rule, to a point where
many were willing to give up their lives for independence?
Problems began for the same reasons most great conflicts come
about, over financial matters. The British had sent troops and arms
to America in 1754-1763 to help the colonists keep French traders
out of English territory, and also to subdue the Native Americans.
By the end of the war, England found herself well in debt and felt
that the colonists should assist in helping to pay it off.
A year after the war, the colonists faced their first non-trade
tax, the Sugar Act. A year later, Parliament passed the Stamp Act,
which first sparked the revolutionary call "no taxation without
representation," expressing the frustration of having all decisions
on how they were to be governed, made across an ocean where
Americans had no say. As one Philadelphia merchant said in a local
newspaper, "the point in dispute is a very important one, if the
Americans are to be taxed by a Parliament where they are not nor can
be represented, they are no longer Englishmen, but slaves."
Due to these widespread protests, the Stamp Act was eventually
repealed and replaced by other less harsh taxes. In 1773, however, a
Tea Act was passed, which for the first time made the issue of
independence a seriously considered option. The Tea Act placed a
heavy import duty on tea that was dropped on the Americans simply to
bail out the nearly bankrupt and highly political East India
Company. After the act, Samuel Adams led Boston to what became known
as the Boston Tea Party, in which 10,000 pounds worth of tea was
thrown out of the British ship and into the Boston Harbor.
In response King George III, hoping to make Boston an example,
passed what the colonists called the Intolerable Acts, which were 4
laws created to punish the Bostonians for their actions until the
damage was repaid. These laws ruined Boston's economy, and put the
city in a state of panic. However, instead of scaring the rest of
America into submission, it only drew sympathy and union for the 13
colonies, resulting in 55 delegates creating the First Continental
Congress. America's first Congress quickly began to pass its own
laws and blast English acts as "gross infractions of those rights to
which we are justly entitled by laws of nature."
By this, George III and his cabinet considered the colonies in
rebellion, while the colonists themselves were unprepared to declare
independence. Neither side wished for war, the Americans especially,
as defeating one of the greatest armies of the time would have been
a nearly impossible task for the unprepared and divided colonies.
This is why America, Britain, and the world were shocked on April
19th, 1775, when fighting began.
British troops were marching to Concord to seize American
supplies and ammunitions, when a small-untrained militia stopped
them on the way in Lexington. Neither side wished to fight, and it
looked as though the meeting would go peacefully, until one man made
one shot that was "heard around the world." Both sides denied firing
the shot, but nonetheless it resulted in the well-trained English
soldiers firing without hesitation and killing eight and wounding
ten within 15 minutes. The relatively unprepared Americans injured
one British soldier.
And so with the Battle of Lexington, which neither the Americans
nor the English wished for or expected, the American war for
independence began. One year later, on July 4th, 1776, America's
independence was officially declared |
