The Declaration of Independence
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agreed with the Lees of Virginia and the Adamses of Massachusetts that
reconciliation was now hopeless. They too shied from the thought of independence, but favored a more aggressive stance against the mother
country.
The committee, consisting of Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Robert Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, John Dickinson, and Thomas Johnson of Maryland, reflected these differing attitudes. Two versions of the declaration
were considered, one offered by Jefferson and the other, more conciliatory
in tone, by Dickinson. Largely the work of these two men, the final draft
served as a compromise between these factions of the Congress, while at
the same time pointing the way toward the Declaration of Independence.
Considering the nature and extent of this protracted struggle for liberty,
with American blood already spilled on the battlefield and a large-scale
military conflict in the offing, the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms is a tribute to American moderation and restraint
in the revolutionary period.
Their quarrel was with Parliament, which, as they rightly complained,
had ignored their earlier petitions. And instead of acting in a conciliatory
manner, the Lords and Commoners seemed bent on ‘‘enslaving the colonies.’’ Appealing to world opinion, the Americans listed their grievances, which included unlawful usurpations of power rightfully belonging to the colonial assemblies, violations of such basic liberties as trial by
jury, and invasions by British troops who ‘‘have butchered our countrymen,’’ committed arson, and ‘‘seized our ships.’’ They denied, however,
any intention ‘‘of separating from Great Britain and establishing separate
States.’’ In words written by Jefferson, they eloquently declared, ‘‘before
God and the world,’’ that ‘‘the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating
firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties;
being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves.’’
As a stubborn Parliament was quick to learn, the Americans meant what
they said.
The Declaration of Independence
Prodded by Thomas Paine’s widely circulated pamphlet Common Sense,
which passionately stated the case for permanent separation and con-