Strictures Upon the Declaration of Independence of Congress at Philadelphia, October 15, 1776
Editor’s Note: Originally published anonymously in 1776, this 32-page missive against our July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Hutchinson, a prominent, despised Loyalist and erstwhile governor of the Massachusetts colony. In his Strictures Upon the Declaration of the Congress at Philadelphia, Hutchinson calls our Founders “impertinent” and insists that they “show in what case a […]
An Essay favoring American Independence (Oct. 22, 1776) that Rebuts a British Declaration Against Independence (Sept. 19, 1776)
Editor’s note: Embedded within this eloquent response by a South Carolina patriot is the full text of a snotty ‘declaration’ written by British aristocrats opposing our July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence, in which they scold “misguided Americans” for “their extravagant and inadmissable Claim of Independency.” In reply, the South Carolinian asserts that what would in […]
“What is required is a new declaration of independence” — President-Elect Obama, Jan. 17, 2009
Editor’s note: On January 17, 2009, just three days before his first inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama called for “a new declaration of independence.” This isn’t the only time he’s harked back to the Declaration. ” In calling for the legalization of same sex marriages on June 4, 2013, he said, “It’s something that can be traced back […]
Address of a Watchman to the People of Pennsylvania, on a Declaration of Independence (June 24, 1776)
Editor’s note: In this eloquent and insightful missive of June 24, 1776, a Pennsylvania watchman — typically someone who keeps lookout in a town at night — forewarns his countrymen that declaring and even winning independence is just a first step — “we shall then only have crossed the Red Sea of our difficulties. A wilderness will still […]
Memorial Letter from the Cherokee Nation to Congress – 1829
Editor’s note: Though not officially a declaration, this eloquent ‘memorial letter’ written in 1829 by tribal leaders of the Cherokee Nation and delivered to both chambers of Congress — just as it was set to debate Indian removal bills — springs in many respects from our Declaration of July 4, 1776, but also they point […]
“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” – Frederick Douglass, July 5, 1852
Editor’s Note: Black Americans did not celebrate the 4th of July until the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. In this no-holds-barred essay, Frederick Douglass, who became one of our great intellectuals, social reformers, and abolitionist leaders after escaping slavery, spells out why Independence Day was a mockery to […]
