Connecticut, on the 14th of June, instructed the delegates from that colony to give their assent to a declaration of independence; on the 15th the New Hampshire Provincial Congress issued similar instructions, and on the 21st, the new delegates from New Jersey were instructed to act in the matter as their judgments should dictate.
In the Pennsylvania Assembly, several months previously, the subject of November, 1775 independence had been hinted at. The Conservatives were alarmed, and procured the adoption of instructions to their delegates adverse to such an idea. In June these restrictions were removed, but the delegates were neither instructed nor officially permitted to concur with the other colonies in a declaration of independence. The Convention of Maryland, by a resolution adopted about the last of May, positively forbade their delegates voting for independence. Georgia, South Carolina, and Delaware took no action on the subject, and their delegates were left free to vote as they pleased.
Thus stimulated by affirmative action in various colonies, the desire for independence became a living principle in the hall of the Continental Congress, and that principle found utterance, albeit with timorous voice. Congress resolved, "That it be recommended to the several assemblies and conventions of the united colonies, where May 10, 1776 no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs hath hitherto been established, to adopt such a government as shall, in the opinions of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and America in general." * This was certainly a bold step, yet not sufficiently positive and comprehensive as a basis of energetic action in favor of independence. The hearts of a majority in Congress yearned with an irrepressible zeal for the consummation of an event which they knew to be inevitable, yet there seemed to be no one courageous enough in that assembly to step forth and take the momentous responsibility of lifting the knife that should sever the cord which bound the American colonies to the British throne. The royal government would mark that man as an arch rebel, and all its energies would be brought to bear to quench his spirit or to hang him on a gibbet.
We have seen that Virginia instructed her representatives in Congress to propose independence; she had a delegate equal to the task. In the midst of the doubt, and dread, and hesitation which for twenty days had brooded over the national assembly, Richard Henry Lee ** arose, and, with his clear, musical voice, read aloud the resolution,
"That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; and that all political connection between us and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." John Adams immediately seconded the resolution. To shield them from the royal ire, Congress directed its secretary to omit the names of its mover and seconder, in the Journals. The record says, "Certain resolutions respecting independency being moved and seconded, Resolved, that the consideration of them be deferred until to-morrow morning; and that the members he enjoined to attend punctually at ten o'clock, in order to take the same into their consideration." The resolution was not considered until three days afterward, when it was resolved to "postpone its further consideration June 10 until the first day of July next; and, in the mean while, that no time be lost, in case Congress agree thereto, that a committee be appointed to prepare a declaration to that effect." This committee was appointed on the 11th, and consisted of Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia; John Adams, of Massachusetts; Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania; Roger Sherman, of Connecticut; and Robert R. Livingston, of New York.June 7, 1776. On the evening of
* John Adams, Edward Rutledge, and Richard Henry Lee were appointed a committee to prepare a preamble to this resolution. See Journals of Congress, ii., 158. In this preamble it was declared "irreconcilable to reason and a good conscience for the colonists to take the oaths required lor the support of the government under the crown of Great Britain/' It was also declared necessary that all royal power should be suppressed, and "all the powers of government exerted under the authority of the people of the colonies, for the preservation of internal peace, virtue, and good order, as well as for the defense of their lives, liberties, and properties, against the hostile invasions and civil depredations of their enemies."—Journals, ii., 166.
** A portrait of Mr. Lee will be found among those in the frontispiece to this volume, and a sketch of his life, with those of the other signers, in the Appendix.
Absence of R. H. Lee.—Jefferson's Draft of the Declaration.—Reasons why he was Chosen to Write it.
the 10th, Mr. Lee received intelligence by express that his wife was seriously ill, and he was compelled to ask leave of absence for a short time. He left Philadelphia the next morning, and this fact accounts for the omission of his name in the formation of the committee on that day. Mr. Jefferson was appointed chairman of the committee, and to him his colleagues assigned the task of preparing the draft of a declaration to be presented to Congress. * It was drawn with care, and was unanimously adopted by the committee, after a few verbal alterations by Adams and Franklin.
On the 1st of July, pursuant to agreement, Mr. Lee's motion was brought up in the committee of the whole House, Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia (father of the late President Harrison), in the chair. The draft of a declaration of independence was reported at the same time, and for three consecutive days it was debated by paragraphs seriatim. Many alterations, omissions, and amendments were made. The following is a copy of that original draft, before any amendments were made in committee of the whole. The passages omitted by Congress are printed in italics, and the substitutions are given in notes at the bottom of the page. **