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 […]
Declaration of an Enemy to American Liberty (August 8, 1776), Declaration of a True Friend (October 27, 1775)
Editor’s Note: In the days and months leading up to the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence, local declarations issued by official bodies could be very personal. They could indicate whether a specific person was deemed an enemy or true friend of liberty, as the two declarations included here show. The first pinpoints “a certain John […]
Declaration Against Independence, Chester County, PA (Sept. 25, 1775)
Edtor’s note: Just a little over nine months before the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence was issued, the winds of political sentiment were still blowing every which way, indicating just what a tenuous, close run thing the move towards independence was. In this declaration against independence, Chester County, Pennsylvania, officials make clear “their abhorrence even […]
Declaration of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina to the Governour (June 20, 1775)
Editor’s Note: Breaking up with Britain was hard to do, as this somewhat ambivalent June 20, 1775 declaration attests (and as does Thomas Jefferson’s initial draft of ‘the’ Declaration of Independence). On the one hand, Charleston’s provincial Congress makes clear that it desires “nothing more ardently than a speedy reconciliation with our Mother Country upon constitutional […]
A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the State of Pennsylvania (Aug. 16, 1776)
Editor’s Note: This Declaration of Rights — which includes “the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety” — was approved on August 16, 1776 by Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives, and became an official part of Pennsylvania’s Constitution, ratified on September 28, 1776. A […]
Instructions for Independence, Acton, Massachusetts (June 14, 1776)
Editor’s note: On June 14, 1776, inhabitants of the town of Acton, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, apparently left out of an earlier opportunity “to express their minds with respect to the important question of American Independence,” make it clear here that they are ready to break from Britain, convinced as they are that “the present age will be […]
Declaration for Independence by the Inhabitants of Alford, Mass. — June 7, 1776
Editor’s note: This is what one might call a conditional declaration of independence — if the Second Continental Congress decides to sever ties with Britain, then the town of Alford, in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, “will support the measure with their lives and fortunes.” Declaration for Independence by the Inhabitants of Alford ALFORD, BERKSHIRE COUNTY (Mass.) At […]
Recommendation for Independence by Scituate, MA, residents
Editor’s note: A month before the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence was penned, the residents of this seacoast town in Massachusetts called upon the representative of Scituate to support their sentiment to break from Britain, which in their estimation was seeking “to extirpate the Americans from the face of the earth, if possible, unless they […]
Instructions for Independence by the Inhabitants of Palmer, Hampshire County, MA (June 17, 1776)
Editor’s note: What with Britain “being bent on her favourite scheme of enslaving the Colonies,” the inhabitants of this Massachusetts town, on June 17, 1776, instructed their Representative to communicate to the Second Continental Congress that they deem it “absolutely necessary for the safety of the United Colonies to be independent from Great Britain, and […]
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 […]
