American Revolution DBQ

AP US History
Mr. Hodgson

Question
From the late 1760s to July 4,1776, American colonists moved from merely
protesting the decisions of King and Parliament to a Declaration of
Independence and a Revolutionary War to overthrow that authority.

Using both your own knowledge and the documents provided, identify and
discuss the turning points which marked this changing relationship.
Document A
Document B
SOURCE: George Hewes, 1773 - Firsthand America, A History of the United
States, David Burner, 1996.

This account of the Boston Tea Party and an original document of the
remembrances of a participant in that event appears in one of the standard
college textbooks used today in many colleges and universities.
_______________
One the evening of December 16, 1773, a gathering of perhaps 8,000 men,
much of the town’s contingent of able-bodies males, assembled at the Old South
Church. They were there to hold a town meeting, to ask that the hated tea not be
landed. Their request was not granted, and at the end of the meeting Sam
Adams rose from his seat and said, "This meeting can do nothing to save the
country." As if by prearranged signal, as soon as the meeting adjourned, a band
of men disguised as Mohawk Indians rushed down Milk Street to Griffin’s Wharf.
Three companies of these instant Indians rowed out to the anchored tea ships,
boarded them, split open the tea chests, and dumped their massive contents into
the waters of the harbor. Their mission accomplished, the men quickly and
quietly dispersed...." Firsthand America, A History of the United States, David
Burner, 1996
____________
George Hewes, One of the Indians participating in the Boston Tea Party,
December 16, 1773
"[I brought}... a small hatchet, which I and my associated demonated the
tomahawk, with which, and a club, after having painted my face and hands with
coal dust in the shop of a blacksmith, I repaired to Griffin’s wharf, where the three
ships lay that contained the tea.... [T]here appeared to be an understanding that
each individual should volunteer his services, keep his own secret, and risk the
consequences for himself. No disorder took place during that transaction, and it
was observed at the time that the stillest night ensued that Boston had enjoyed
for many months."
Document C
SOURCE: The Association of the First Continental Congress, October 20,
1774, in
Journals of the Continental Congress, Vol. 1, pp. 75-80.".

The Association was the most effective device adopted by the American
colonials and the First Continental Congress to deal with grievances with
Great Britain. Copying earlier spontaneous boycotts and harshly enforced
by radical Sons and Daughters of Liberty, the non-importation of British
goods forced British merchants to appeal to Parliament to placate the
colonials.
_______________
"We, his Majesty's most loyal subjects, the delegates of the several colonies of
New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the three lower counties of Newcastle, Kent, and
Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina,
deputed to represent them in a continental congress, held in the city of
Philadelphia, on the 5th day of September, 1774, avowing our allegiance to his
Majesty, our affection and regard for our fellow-subjects in Great Britain and
elsewhere, affected with the deepest anxiety and most alarming apprehensions,
at those grievances and distresses, with which his Majesty's American subjects
are oppressed... are of opinion that a non-importation, non-consumption, and
non-exportation agreement, faithfully adhered to, will prove the most speedy,
effectual, and peaceable measure: and therefore, we do, for ourselves, and the
inhabitants of the several colonies whom we represent, firmly agree and
associate, under the sacred ties of virtue, honour and love of our country . . . .

And we do solemnly bind ourselves and our constituents, under the ties
aforesaid, to adhere to this Association, until such parts of the several Acts of
Parliament passed since the close of the last war,... are repealed.... And we
recommend it to the provincial conventions, and to the committees in the
respective colonies, to establish such farther regulations as they may think
proper, for carrying into execution this Association.

The foregoing Association being determined upon by the Congress, was ordered
to be subscribed by the several members thereof; and thereupon, we have
hereunto set our respective names accordingly."
Document D
SOURCE: Sons of Liberty, New York City, December 15, 1773.

"He shall be deemed an enemy to the liberties of America," 1773

The following were resolutions passed by the Sons of Liberty of New York
City on December 15, 1773 concerning the use of taxed tea by American
colonials. Notice the attitudes taken by these New York patriots toward
their relationship with Great Britain and the authority of the British
government.
_______________
"...To prevent a calamity which, of all others, is the most to be dreaded -- slavery,
and its terrible concomitants -- we subscribers being influenced from a regard to
liberty, and disposed to use all lawful endeavors in our power, l to defeat the
pernicious project, and to transmit to our prosperity, those blessings of freedom
which our ancestors have handed down to us; and to contribute to the support of
the common liberties of America, which are in danger to be subverted, do, for
those most important purposes, agree to associate together, under the name and
style of the sons of liberty of New York, and engage our honor to, and with each
other, faithfully to observe and perform the following resolutions, viz.

1st, Resolved, That whoever shall aid, or abet, or in any manner assist in the
introduction of tea, from any place whatsoever, into this colony, while it is subject,
by a British act to parliament, to the payment of a duty, for the purpose of raising
a revenue in American, he shall be deemed an enemy to the liberties of America.

2d. Resolved, That whoever shall be aiding, or assisting, in the landing, or

carting, of such tea, from any ship or vessel, or shall hire any house, storehouse,
or cellar or any place whatsoever to deposit the tea, subject to a duty as
aforesaid, he shall be deemed an enemy to the liberties of America.

3d. Resolved, that whoever shall sell, or buy,... tea, or shall aid... in transporting
such tea,... from this city, until the... revenue act shall be totally and clearly
repealed, he shall be deemed an enemy to the liberties of America.

4th. Resolved, That whether the duties on tea, imposed by this act, be paid in
Great Britain or in America, our liberties are equally affected.

5th. Resolved, That whoever shall transgress any of these resolutions, we will
not deal with, or employ, or have any connection with him."
Document E
SOURCE: Declaration of Colonial Rights and Grievances, October 1, 1774 ,
Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1779 (Washington, 1904-1937).

This declaration by the First Continental Congress was clearly targeted at

the American people and to the outside world as colonial leaders attempted
to explain the grievances which had brought them into opposition to their
King
_______________
"...The good people of the several colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts
Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Castle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland,
Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, justly alarmed at these arbitrary
proceedings of Parliament and administration, have severally elected,
constituted, and appointed deputies to meet and sit in general congress, in the
city of Philadelphia, in order to obtain such establishment, as that their religion,
laws, and liberties may not be subverted.

Whereupon the deputies so appointed being now assembled, in a full and free
representation of these colonies, taking into their most serious consideration the
best means of attaining the ends aforesaid, do, in the first place, as Englishmen,
their ancestors in like cases have usually done, for asserting and vindicating their
rights and liberties, declare,
That the inhabitants of the English colonies in North America, by the immutable
laws of nature, the principles of the English constitution, and the several charters
or compacts, have the following rights:

Resolved, That they are entitled to life, liberty and property, and they have never
ceded to any sovereign power whatever, a right to dispose of either without their
consent.

Resolved, That our ancestors who first settled these colonies, were at the time of
their emigration from the mother country, entitled to all the rights, liberties, and
immunities of free and natural-born subjects, within the realm of England.

Resolved, That by such emigration they by no means forfeited, surrendered, or

lost any of those rights, but that they were, and their descendants now are,
entitled to the exercise and enjoyment of all such of them, as their local and other
circumstances enable them to exercise and enjoy.
Resolved, That the foundation of English liberty, and of all free government, is a
right in the people to participate in their legislative council: and as the English
colonists are not represented, and from their local and other circumstances,
cannot properly be represented in the British Parliament, they are entitled to a
free and exclusive power of legislation in their several provincial legislatures,
where their right of representation can alone be preserved, in all cases of
taxation and internal polity, subject only to the negative of their sovereign, in such
manner as has been heretofore used and accustomed. But, from the necessity of
the case, and a regard to the mutual interest of both countries, we cheerfully
consent to the operation of such Acts of the British Parliament, as are bona fide,
restrained to the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose of securing
the commercial advantages of the whole empire to the mother country, and the
commercial benefits of its respective members; excluding every idea of taxation,
internal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects in America, without their
consent.

Resolved, That the respective colonies are entitled to the common law of
England, and more especially to the great and inestimable privilege of being tried
by their peers of the vicinage, according to the course of that law.

Resolved, That they are entitled to the benefit of such of the English statutes as
existed at the time of their colonization; and which they have, by experience,
respectively found to be applicable to their several local and other circumstances.

Resolved, That these, his Majesty's colonies, are likewise entitled to all the
immunities and privileges granted & confirmed to them by royal charters, or
secured by their several codes of provincial laws.

Resolved, That they have a right peaceably to assemble, consider of their

grievances, and petition the king; and that all prosecutions, prohibitory
proclamations and commitments for the same, are illegal.

Resolved, That the keeping a standing army in these colonies, in times of peace,
without the consent of the legislature of that colony, in which such army is kept, is
against law.

Resolved, It is indispensably necessary to good government, and rendered

essential by the English constitution, that the constituent branches of the
legislature be independent of each other; that, therefore, the exercise of
legislative power in several colonies, by a council appointed, during pleasure, by
the Crown, is unconstitutional, dangerous, and destructive to the freedom of
American legislation.

All and each of which the aforesaid deputies, in behalf of themselves and their
constituents, do claim, demand, and insist on, as their indubitable rights and
liberties; which cannot be legally taken from them, altered or abridged by any
power whatever, without their own consent, by their representatives in their
several provincial legislatures.

In the course of our inquiry, we find many infringements and violations of the
foregoing rights, which, from an ardent desire, that harmony and mutual
intercourse of affection and interest may be restored, we pass over for the
present, and proceed to state such acts and measures as have been adopted
since the last war, which demonstrate a system formed to enslave America.

Resolved, That the following Acts of Parliament are infringements and violations
of the rights of the colonists; and that the repeal of them is essentially necessary
in order to restore harmony between Great Britain and the American colonies,
viz:

The several Acts of 4 Geo. III, c. 15 and c. 34; 5 Geo. III, c. 25; 6 Geo. III, c. 52; 7
Geo. III, c. 41 and c. 46; 8 Geo. III, c. 22, which impose duties for the purpose of
raising a revenue in America, extend the powers of the admiralty courts beyond
their ancient limits, deprive the American subject of trial by jury, authorize the
judges' certificate to indemnify the prosecutor from damages that he might
otherwise be liable to, requiring oppressive security from a claimant of ships and
goods seized, before he shall be allowed to defend his property, and are
subversive of American rights.
Also the 12 Geo. III, c. 24, entitled "An Act for the better securing his Majesty's
dockyards, magazines, ships, ammunition, and stores," which declares a new
offence in America, and deprives the American subject of a constitutional trial by
a jury of the vicinage, by authorizing the trial of any person charged with the
committing any offence described in the said Act, out of the realm, to be indicted
and tried for the same in any shire or country within the realm.

Also the three Acts passed in the last session of Parliament, for stopping the port
and blocking up the harbour of Boston, for altering the charter and government of
the Massachusetts Bay, and that which is entitled "An Act for the better
administration of justice," etc.

Also the Act passed in the same session for establishing the Roman Catholic
religion in the province of Quebec, abolishing the equitable system of English
laws, and erecting a tyranny there, to the great danger, from so total a
dissimilarity of religion, law, and government of the neighbouring British colonies,
by the assistance of whose blood and treasure the said country was conquered
from France.

Also the Act passed in the same session for the better providing suitable quarters
for officers and soldiers in his Majesty's service in North America.

Also that the keeping a standing army in several of these colonies, in time of
peace, without the consent of the legislature of that colony in which such army is
kept, is against law.

To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot submit, but in hopes
that their fellow subjects in Great Britain will, on a revision of them, restore us to
that state in which both countries found happiness and prosperity, we have for
the present only resolved to pursue the following peaceable measures:
1. To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation
agreement or association,

2. To prepare an address to the people of Great Britain, and a memorial to the

inhabitants of British America, and

3. To prepare a loyal address to his Majesty, agreeable to resolutions already

entered into.
Document F
SOURCE: Act of the British Parliament, 1774.

The Boston Port Act was passed by Parliament in direct retaliation for the
Boston Tea Party of 1773.

______________
"An act to discontinue, in such manner, and for such time as are therein
mentioned, the landing and discharging, lading or shipping, of goods, wares, and
merchandise, at the town, and within the harbour, of Boston, in the province of
Massachusetts’s Bay, in North America.
WHEREAS dangerous commotions and insurrections have been fomented and
raised in the town of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts’s Bay, in New
England, by divers ill-affected persons, to the subversion of his Majesty's
government, and to the utter destruction of the publics peace, and good order of
the said town; in which commotions and insurrections certain valuable cargoes of
teas, being the property of the East India Company, and on board certain vessels
lying within the bay or harbour of Boston, were seized and destroyed: And
whereas, in the present condition of the said town and harbour, the commerce of
his Majesty's subjects cannot be safely carried on there, nor the customs payable
to his Majesty duly collected; and it is therefore expedient that the officers of his
Majesty's customs should be forthwith removed front the said town... be it
enacted.... That from and after.... [June I, I774,]... it shall not be lawful for any
person or persons whatsoever to lade, put, or cause or procure to be laden or
put, off or from any quay, wharf, or other place, within the said town of Boston...,
upon pain of the forfeiture of the said goods, wares, and merchandise, and of the
said boat, lighter, ship, vessel, or other bottom into which the same shall be put...
until it shall sufficiently appear to his Majesty that full satisfaction hath been made
by or on behalf of the inhabitants of the said town of Boston to the united
company of merchants of England trading to the East Indies, for the damage
sustained by the said company by the destruction of their goods sent to the said
town of Boston... in the months of November and December, in the year one
thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, and in the month of January, in the
year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four."
Document G
SOURCE: Declaration of the People of Farmington, 1774.

The Boston Tea Party, which involved the destruction of three cargoes of
tea by colonials thinly disguised as Indians, provoked an angry response in
Parliament. Other colonies responded with assurances of support. This
resolution of protest was passed by the citizens of Farmington,
Connecticut.
_______________
"Early in the morning was found the following handbill, posted up in various parts
of the town, viz.:
To pass through the fire at six o'clock this evening, in honor to the immortal
goddess of Liberty, the late infamous Act of the British Parliament for farther
distressing the American Colonies. The place of execution will be the public
parade, where all Sons of Liberty are desired to attend.

Accordingly, a very numerous and respectable body were assembled of near one
thousand people, when a huge pole, just forty-five feet high, was erected, and
consecrated to the shrine of liberty; after which the Act of Parliament for blocking
up the Boston harbor was read aloud, sentenced to the flames, and executed by
the hands of the common hangman. Then the following resolves were passed,
nem. con. [unanimously]:

1st. That it is the greatest dignity, interest, and happiness of every American to
be united with our parent state while our liberties are duly secured, maintained,
and supported by our rightful sovereign, whose person we greatly revere; whose
government, while duly administered, we are ready with our lives and properties
to support.

2nd. That the present Ministry, being instigated by the Devil, and led on by their
wicked and corrupt hearts, have a design to take away our liberties and
properties, and to enslave us forever.
3rd. That the late Act, which their malice hath caused to be passed in Parliament,
for blocking up the port of Boston, is unjust, illegal, and oppressive; and that we,
and every American, are sharers in the insults offered to the town of Boston.

4th. That those pimps and parasites who dared to advise their master [George III]
to such detestable measures be held in utter abhorrence by us and every
American, and their names loaded with the curses of all succeeding generations.
5th. That we scorn the chains of slavery; we despise every attempt to rivet them
upon us; we are the sons of freedom, and resolved that, till time shall be no
more, that godlike virtue shall blazon our hemisphere."
Document H
SOURCE: Resolutions of freeholders of Albemarle County, Virginia., July
26, 1774.

These resolutions were actually authored in part by Thomas Jefferson, who

participated in this collective assembly in his home colony of Virginia.
_______________
"At a meeting of the Freeholders of the County of Albemarle, assembled in their
collective body, at the Court House of the said County, on the 26th of July, 1774:
Resolved, That the inhabitants of the Several States of British America are
subject to the laws which they adopted at their first settlement, and to such
others as have been since made by their respective Legislatures, duly
constituted and appointed with their own consent. That no other Legislature
whatever can rightly exercise authority over them; and that these privileges they
hold as the common rights of mankind, confirmed by the political constitutions
they have respectively assumed, and also by several charters of compact from
the Crown.

Resolved, That these their natural and legal rights have in frequent instances
been invaded by the Parliament of Great Britain and particularly that they were
so by an act lately passed to take away the trade of the inhabitants of the town of
Boston, in the province of Massachusetts Bay; that all such assumptions of
unlawful power are dangerous to the right of the British empire in general, and
should be considered as its common cause, and that we will ever be ready to join
with our fellow-subjects in every part of the same, in executing all those rightful
powers which God has given us, for the re-establishment and guaranteeing such
their constitutional rights, when, where, and by whomsoever invaded.

It is the opinion of this meeting, that the most eligible means of effecting these
purposes, will be to put an immediate stop to all imports from Great Britain, . . .
and to all exports thereto, after the first day of October, 1775; and immediately to
discontinue all commercial intercourse with every part of the British Empire which
shall not in like manner break off their commerce with Great Britain.

It is the opinion of this meeting, that we immediately cease to import all

commodities from every part of the world, which are subjected by the British
Parliament to the payment of duties in America.

It is the opinion of this meeting, that these measures should be pursued until a
repeal be obtained of the Act for blocking up the harbour of Boston; of the Acts
prohibiting or restraining internal manufactures in America; of the Acts imposing
on any commodities duties to be paid in America; and of the Act laying
restrictions on the American trade; and that on such repeal it will be reasonable
to grant to our brethren of Great Britain such privileges in commerce as may
amply compensate their fraternal assistance, past and future.
Resolved, However, that this meeting do submit these their opinions to the
Convention of Deputies from the several counties of this Colony, and appointed
to be held at Williamsburg on the first day of August next, and also to the General
Congress of Deputies from the several American States, when and wheresoever
held; and that they will concur in these or any other measures which such
Convention or such Congress shall adopt as most expedient for the American
good; and we do appoint Thomas Jefferson and John Walker our Deputies to act
for this county at the said Convention, and instruct them to conform themselves
to these our Resolutions and Opinions."
Document I
SOURCE: Instructions by the Virginia Convention to Their Delegates in
Congress, August 1-6, 1774.

Notice the changing opinion of colonists toward Great Britain.

_______________
"It cannot admit of a Doubt but that British Subjects in America are entitled to the
same Rights and Privileges as their Fellow Subjects possess in Britain; and
therefore, that the Power assumed by the British Parliament to bind America by
their Statutes, in all Cases whatsoever, is unconstitutional, and the Source of
these unhappy Differences.

The End of Government would be defeated by the British Parliament exercising a

Power over the Lives, the Property, and the Liberty of the American Subject; who
are not, and, from their local Circumstances, cannot, be there represented. Of
this Nature we consider the several Acts of Parliament for raising a Revenue in
American, for extending the Jurisdiction of the Courts of Admiralty, for seizing
American Subjects and transporting them to Britain to be tried for Crimes
committed in America, and the several late oppressive Acts respecting the Town
of Boston and Province of the Massachusetts Bay.

The original Constitution of the American Colonies possessing their Assemblies

with the sole right of directing their internal Polity, it is absolutely destructive of
the End of their Institution that their Legislatures should be suspended, or
prevented, by hasty Dissolutions, from exercising their legislative Powers.

To obtain Redress of Grievances, without which the People of America can

neither be safe, free, nor happy, they are willing to undergo the great
Inconvenience that will be derived to them from stopping all Imports whatsoever
from Great Britain after the first Day of November next, and also to cease
exporting any Commodity whatsoever to the same Place after the tenth Day of
August 1775.... [I]t is our Desire that you cordially co-operate with our Sister
Colonies in General Congress in such other just and proper Methods as they, or
the Majority, shall deem necessary for the Accomplishment of these valuable
Ends."
Document J
Document K
SOURCE: Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776.

Thomas Paine was nothing if he was not a world traveling rabble rouser. He
came to the American colonies and helped foment a revolution. He
returned to England to promote radical causes and had to flee for his life.
He went to France where he aided in the French Revolution. "Common
Sense," printed in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776 and reprinted
throughout the colonies, offered his reasons why America should seek
independence.
_______________

"In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments,
and common sense....

Volumes have been written on the subject of the struggle between England and
America. Men of all ranks have embarked in the controversy, from different
motives, and with various designs; but all have been ineffectual, and the period
of debate is closed. Arms as the last resource decide the contest; the appeal [to
arms] was the choice of the King, and the {American] Continent has accepted the
challenge....

The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth.... Now is the seed time of
Continental union, faith, and honour....

I have heard it asserted by some, that as America hath flourished under her
former connection with Great Britain, that same connection is necessary towards
her future happiness and will always have the same effect -- Nothing can be
more fallacious than this kind of argument: -- we may as well assert that because
a child hath thrived upon milk, that it is never to have meat....
But Britain is the parent country say some. Then the more shame upon her
conduct. Even brutes do not devour their young, nor savages make war upon
their families; wherefore the assertion if true, turns to her reproach; but it
happens not to be true... the phrase, parent or mother country, hath been
jesuitically adopted by the King and his parasites, with a low papistical design of
gaining an unfair bias on the credulous weakness of our minds. Europe and not
England is the parent country of America. This New World hath been the asylum
for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe.
Hither have they fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the
cruelty of the monster; and it is so far true of England, that the same tyranny,
which drove the first emigrants from home, pursues their descendants still.
Much hath been said of the united strength of Britain and the Colonies, that in
conjunction they might bid defiance to the world; But this is mere presumption,
the fate of war is uncertain, neither do the expressions mean anything, for this
Continent would never suffer itself to be drained of inhabitants, to support the
British Arms in either Asia, Africa, or Europe.
Besides, what have we to do with setting the world at defiance? Our plan is
commerce, and that well attended to, will secure us the peace and friendship of
all Europe, because it is the interest of all Europe to have America a free port.
Her trade will always be her protection....

I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation, to shew , a single advantage

that this Continent can reap, by being connected with Great Britain. I will repeat
the challenge, not a single advantage is derived. Our corn will fetch its price in
any market in Europe and our imported goods must be paid for by them where
we will.

But the injuries and disadvantages we sustain by that connection, are without
number, and our duty to mankind at large, as well as to ourselves, instruct us to
renounce the alliance; because any submission to, or dependence on Great
Britain, tends directly to involve this Continent in European wars and quarrels. As
Europe is our market for trade, we ought to form no political connection with any
part of it....

Europe is too thickly planted with Kingdoms, to be long at peace, and whenever
a war breaks out between England and any foreign power, the trade of American
goes to ruin, because of her connection with Britain....

The authority of Great Britain over this Continent is a form of Government, which
sooner or later must have an end.... ‘Tis repugnant to reason, to the universal
order of things; to all examples from former ages, to suppose, that this Continent
can long remain subject to any external power.... Small islands not capable of
protecting themselves are the proper objects for government to take under their
care; but there is something very absurd, in supposing a Continent to be
perpetually governed by an island....

A government of our own is our natural right; and when a man seriously reflects
on the precariousness of human affairs, he will become convinced, that it is
infinitely wiser and safer, to form a constitution of our own, in a cool deliberate
manner, while we have it in our power, than to trust such an interesting event to
time and chance....

O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny but the tyrant,
stand forth! Every spot of the Old World is over-run with oppression. Freedom
hath been hunted round the Globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled her.
Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to
depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind."
Document L
Document M
SOURCE: Richard Henry Lee, Second Continental Congress, July 2, 1776.

As a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Richard Henry Lee

served on 18 different committees - none as important as his appointment
to frame the Declaration of Rights of the Colonies, which led directly to the
writing of the Declaration of Independence. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry
Lee was accorded the well-deserved honor of introducing the bill before
Congress. The bill was adopted on July 2 - the formal act that dissolved the
ties with England. Two days later, on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of
Independence was ratified.
_______________

"That these united Colonies are, and ought to be, fee and independent States,
that they are absolved from all allegiance from the British crown, and than all
political connection between America and State of Great Britain is, and ought to
be, totally dissolved."