Often we remember seeing or hearing important events when they occurred for the first time; the moon landing, Kennedy's death, 9-11, or, for our elderly, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, etc. Maybe even something lighter like when the Beatles first came to America or when Woodstock happened. So, I would imagine hearing something as important and newsworthy as Britain's American colonies declaring Independence would have to had been the ultimate news item, as far as America is concerned, right?
Now, naturally, all from that era of 1776 are far gone - 200 years gone for most - so to hear their stories would be impossible.
Or is it?
Now, naturally, all from that era of 1776 are far gone - 200 years gone for most - so to hear their stories would be impossible.
Or is it?
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Let's explore this a bit further and maybe understand why...
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Here is the first time we see
"The United States of America!" |
But I never lost my passion for the Revolutionary era. And I never lost my love for our country - my patriotism has always stood strong, even through adversity.
So now I reenact the time of the founding generation, and with the coming of the sestercentennial (250th anniversary), it is the perfect time to reinvigorate and re-familiarize ourselves with this most important period in our history.
Each July 4th since 2015 I have made a special effort to publish a blog post celebrating, in some way or another, a story about our fight for independence. And this is the 3rd year in a row that my Independence Day post has something to do with the Great Declaration. I have tried to do each from a little bit of a different angle...with a more personal you are there feel, to help garner excitement and understanding for our rich past.
Oh---and since 2011, I have celebrated our country's birthday by wearing period clothing and attempting to 'live' history for the short moment.
So let's take you back to that hot summer of '76 - 1776 - so you, too, can experience what it was like to hear of this declaration that seemed to be on everyone's lips:
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The Pennsylvania Evening Post
July 6, 1776 |
The colonies are claiming INDEPENDENCE!
Immediately, the words of the document were typeset and printed onto broadsides where they were delivered by couriers throughout the British colonies and set on ships to be seen in far-off France and...England.
Besides being distributed as a broadside, the Declaration of Independence was published on the front page of the Pennsylvania Evening Post on July 6, 1776 - the first newspaper to do so. Other newspapers picked up the story and printers elsewhere produced additional broadsides.
This was news; just imagine these backwoods country folk declaring independence from the world's greatest super power!
And it certainly did cause a stir throughout the land, as you shall soon see.
Now place yourself into the mindset of those who were around in July of 1776; your awareness of the future is gone...this is the best way to understand the excitement (by 18th century definition) that it caused.
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Evening has come to pass...
time to write a letter.
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On Sunday, July 14, Abigail Adams replied to her husband in this manner:
"By yesterdays post I received two Letters dated 3 and 4 of July and tho your Letters never fail to give me pleasure, be the subject what it will, yet it was greatly heightened by the prospect of the future happiness and glory of our Country; nor am I a little Gratified when I reflect that a person so nearly connected with me has had the Honour of being a principal actor, in laying a foundation for its future Greatness. May the foundation of our new constitution, be justice, Truth and Righteousness. Like the wise Mans house may it be founded upon those Rocks and then neither storms or temptests will overthrow it."
How exciting for Mrs. Adams to bear witness to what her husband had helped to accomplish (with her help, I have no doubt).
Now, we have been told that the first public reading of the Declaration occurred on July 8 of that grand year of '76. However, it seems there was an earlier public reading. The following comes from Chris Coelho in his article published in the Journal of the American Revolution site:
In 1992, the legal scholar Wilfred J. Ritz presented evidence of a public reading on July 4, 1776. Although Ritz originally thought that a “leaked” copy was read that day, it was, in fact, an official copy in the hands of a staff member. One eyewitness was Charles Biddle, later Vice President of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Executive Council. He wrote, “On the memorable Fourth of July, 1776, I was at the Old State-House yard when the Declaration of Independence was read. There were very few respectable citizens present.”Another spectator, Quaker Deborah Norris Logan, was fourteen in the summer of 1776. In a diary she started many years later, she described what she saw and heard on July 4:
It is now a matter of doubt as what hour, or how, the Declaration was given to the people. Perhaps few now remain that heard it read on that day. But of the few I am one: being in the lot adjoining to our old mansion house in Chestnut Street, that then extended to 5th Street, I distinctly heard the words of that Instrument read to the people (I believe from the State House steps, for I did not see the reader) a low building on 5th Street (later the location of City Hall) which prevented my sight and I think it was Charles Thomson’s voice. It took place a little after twelve at noon and they then proceeded down the street, (I understood) to read it at the Court House. It was a time of fearful doubt and great anxiety with the people, many of whom were appalled at the boldness of the measure, and the first audience was neither very numerous, nor composed of the most respectable class of citizens.
As Logan orients us, the Norris property bordered the State House on the south side of Chestnut Street. Standing in her own yard, she could see the crowd on the street and hear the speaker, but due to an obstructed view, she could not see him.
You gotta love deeper research!
Now let's imagine being at the very first, what we might say, "official" public reading of the Declaration, which took place in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776 to a much larger crowd than read to on the 4th. Word of the Declaration by that point had gotten out and, I would venture to guess, there were some mighty interested folk who wanted to hear it "official."
Most of what you are about to read comes directly from the book, The Declaration of Independence by Rod Gragg (see link at the bottom of this post):
At noon on July 8, 1776 - a hot day in Philadelphia - several hundred people crowded onto the State House courtyard to hear a public reading of the Declaration of Independence. Colonel John Nixon, of the Philadelphia Committee of safety, climbed atop an odd makeshift stage---a circular platform used for astronomy studies...
There, elevated above the crowd, he began to read.
In Congress, July 4, 1776.
A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America
In General Congress Assembled.
When in the Course of Human Events...
When he finished, resounding cheers rose from the courtyard. Nine men selected for the honor then proceeded to the front of the State House, where the king's coat of arms was mounted above the entrance. Every day of both sessions of the Continental Congress, the delegates had walked under this symbol of Royal authority on the way to deliberations. Now it was pried from the wall and carried triumphantly to the London Coffee House. In the street outside that evening---after a parade and thirteen gun salute---it was ceremoniously tossed onto a bonfire. Church bells rang into the night, and Philadelphians everywhere lit candles in their windows.
And John Adams, in a letter to Samuel Chase from Philadelphia dated 9 July, 1776, wrote:
"You will see by this post that the river is passed, and the bridge cut away. The Declaration was yesterday published and proclaimed from that awful stage in the State-house yard, by whom, do you think? By the Committee of Safety, the Committee of Inspection, and a great crowd of people. Three cheers rended the welkin. The battalions paraded on the Commons, and gave us the feu de joie (bonfire), notwithstanding the scarcity of powder. The bells rang all day and almost all night. Even the chimers chimed away. The election for the city was carried on, amidst all this flurry, with the utmost decency and order."
General George Washington received official notification when a letter dated July 6 arrived from John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress, along with a copy of the declaration. Hancock explained that Congress had struggled with American independence for some time, and even after making this momentous decision many members were worried about its consequences. He concluded that Americans would have to rely on the "Being who controls both Causes and Events to bring about his own determination," a sentiment which Washington shared. For the commander-in-chief, who needed to lead his untrained army against Great Britain, the decision for independence came as welcome news, especially since his men would now fight not merely in defense of their colonies but for the birth of a new nation. The Revolutionaries were intently aware of this immediate value of the Declaration. As the report that appeared in the London Chronicle of September 26, 1776, makes clear, when the Declaration was officially read on July 9, it had the desired effect.
The following is a combination of different source material that I had spliced together to give a more cohesive reading of the occurrences when George Washington had gathered his troops to hear this Declaration for the first time (my sources are listed at the bottom of this post):
On the evening of July 9, 1776, thousands of Continental soldiers who had come from Boston to defend New York City from the British marched to the parade grounds in Lower Manhattan. General George Washington had ordered them to assemble promptly at six o'clock to hear a declaration approved by the Continental Congress calling for American independence from Great Britain.
Washington, like many others in the army, had been waiting for this declaration for some time. He had grown impatient with representatives who hoped for reconciliation with the mother country. To those who believed peace commissioners were on their way to the colonies to effect this reconciliation, Washington responded that the only people heading to the colonies were Hessian mercenaries. Even as his men waited to hear the proclamation read aloud to them, Washington knew that thousands of Hessians and even more redcoats were landing on Staten Island, preparing for an attack on New York.
Washington rode into the middle of a hollow square formed by New York and Connecticut regiments while a chirp throng of civilians ringed the greensward. As Washington's soldiers stood ready for the brigadiers and colonels of their regiments to read the Declaration of Independence, they first heard words written by their commander. Washington explained that Congress had "dissolved the connection" between "this country" and Great Britain and declared the "United Colonies of North America" to be "free and independent states." A uniformed aid spurred his horse forward; the crowd hushed as he unfolded his script and began to read: "In Congress, July 4, 1776." Even the most unlettered private recognized that something majestic was in the air.
Next came Jefferson's stirring words explaining that all men were created equal and endowed by their Creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Since George III had trampled on these rights, as Jefferson argued in a long list of complaints against him, the people of the United States of America had the right to break the political bands that tied them to Great Britain and form a new government where the people would rule themselves.
By the end of August, Washington decided to leave Long Island and focus on the defense of Manhattan. The British planned to attack Manhattan by landing at Kip’s Bay. On September 15, the British opened fire from their ships and proceeded to land ashore. Many of the Continental soldiers and militiamen panicked and deserted their posts. Washington managed to galvanize troops the next day on Harlem Heights, forcing back three battalions of British light infantry. The small victory was tactically unimportant, but went a long way towards reinvigorating the Continental Army’s morale."
Not every colonist was pleased, however. On July 9th, recent immigrant diarist Nicholas Cresswell, a young English gentry farmer living in Virginia, wrote: "At Mr. Kirks. News that the Sanhedrim had declared that the thirteen united Colonies, Free and Independent States. That this was intended by the Northern Colonies from the first I am well convinced..."
Cresswell then presents two letters from 1775 (that were written by John Adams) which fell into British hands when the currier was captured in Rhode Island. In them Adams speaks of the military build up of the Continentals to go against the British Army, among other items.
New York Declaration signers William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Lewis Morris, and Francis Lewis were proscribed by the British authorities and had a price set upon their heads. Very soon after they were in possession of Long Island, Captain Birtch was sent to the home of Francis Lewis with a troop of light horse "to seize the lady and destroy the property."
Lewis' wife, Elizabeth, remained calm as the soldiers advanced and a British warship opened fire on the house. A soldier tore the glittering buckles from her shoes that looked to him like gold but were really just pinchbeck. “All that glitters is not gold,” she remarked to the disheartened young man. The soldiers destroyed books from Lewis' valuable library, papers, and pictures, and ruthlessly broke up furniture. After thoroughly pillaging the house they took Elizabeth captive and threw her into prison without a bed or a change of clothing, and with scant food. When this was brought to the attention of General Washington, he ordered the arrest of Mrs. Barren, wife of the British Paymaster-General, and Mrs. Kempe, wife of the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He made it known that his captives would receive the same treatment as Mrs. Lewis unless an exchange was made. The exchange was arranged, but Elizabeth’s health was seriously impaired by her captivity and imprisonment. She joined Francis in Philadelphia in broken health and died in June 1779 with Francis at her side.
But more devastation was to befell other signers:
Philip Livingston and Lewis Morris flee'd their homes, and the home of William Floyd was also looted. Thomas Jefferson and his family were also forced to leave their Virginia plantation. John Hart's house in New Jersey was sacked as he was relentlessly pursued. George Clymer, from Pennsylvania, had his home looted and his family driven away. Thomas McKean of Delaware had to move his family no less than five times. North Carolina's William Hooper suffered severe losses; William Ellery of Rhode Island had his house burned; and Georgia's Lyman Hall lost two houses.
At noon on July 8, 1776 - a hot day in Philadelphia - several hundred people crowded onto the State House courtyard to hear a public reading of the Declaration of Independence. Colonel John Nixon, of the Philadelphia Committee of safety, climbed atop an odd makeshift stage---a circular platform used for astronomy studies...
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| The reading of the Great Declaration at the State House in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776 (from the John Adams HBO mini-series) |
In Congress, July 4, 1776.
A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America
In General Congress Assembled.
When in the Course of Human Events...
When he finished, resounding cheers rose from the courtyard. Nine men selected for the honor then proceeded to the front of the State House, where the king's coat of arms was mounted above the entrance. Every day of both sessions of the Continental Congress, the delegates had walked under this symbol of Royal authority on the way to deliberations. Now it was pried from the wall and carried triumphantly to the London Coffee House. In the street outside that evening---after a parade and thirteen gun salute---it was ceremoniously tossed onto a bonfire. Church bells rang into the night, and Philadelphians everywhere lit candles in their windows.
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| Bells, cannon, and musketry all commemorated the new United States of America! (from the John Adams HBO miniseries) |
"You will see by this post that the river is passed, and the bridge cut away. The Declaration was yesterday published and proclaimed from that awful stage in the State-house yard, by whom, do you think? By the Committee of Safety, the Committee of Inspection, and a great crowd of people. Three cheers rended the welkin. The battalions paraded on the Commons, and gave us the feu de joie (bonfire), notwithstanding the scarcity of powder. The bells rang all day and almost all night. Even the chimers chimed away. The election for the city was carried on, amidst all this flurry, with the utmost decency and order."
General George Washington received official notification when a letter dated July 6 arrived from John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress, along with a copy of the declaration. Hancock explained that Congress had struggled with American independence for some time, and even after making this momentous decision many members were worried about its consequences. He concluded that Americans would have to rely on the "Being who controls both Causes and Events to bring about his own determination," a sentiment which Washington shared. For the commander-in-chief, who needed to lead his untrained army against Great Britain, the decision for independence came as welcome news, especially since his men would now fight not merely in defense of their colonies but for the birth of a new nation. The Revolutionaries were intently aware of this immediate value of the Declaration. As the report that appeared in the London Chronicle of September 26, 1776, makes clear, when the Declaration was officially read on July 9, it had the desired effect.
The following is a combination of different source material that I had spliced together to give a more cohesive reading of the occurrences when George Washington had gathered his troops to hear this Declaration for the first time (my sources are listed at the bottom of this post):
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A Mort Kunstler painting of the reading of
the Declaration of Independence to Washington's men. |
Washington, like many others in the army, had been waiting for this declaration for some time. He had grown impatient with representatives who hoped for reconciliation with the mother country. To those who believed peace commissioners were on their way to the colonies to effect this reconciliation, Washington responded that the only people heading to the colonies were Hessian mercenaries. Even as his men waited to hear the proclamation read aloud to them, Washington knew that thousands of Hessians and even more redcoats were landing on Staten Island, preparing for an attack on New York.
Washington rode into the middle of a hollow square formed by New York and Connecticut regiments while a chirp throng of civilians ringed the greensward. As Washington's soldiers stood ready for the brigadiers and colonels of their regiments to read the Declaration of Independence, they first heard words written by their commander. Washington explained that Congress had "dissolved the connection" between "this country" and Great Britain and declared the "United Colonies of North America" to be "free and independent states." A uniformed aid spurred his horse forward; the crowd hushed as he unfolded his script and began to read: "In Congress, July 4, 1776." Even the most unlettered private recognized that something majestic was in the air.
Next came Jefferson's stirring words explaining that all men were created equal and endowed by their Creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Since George III had trampled on these rights, as Jefferson argued in a long list of complaints against him, the people of the United States of America had the right to break the political bands that tied them to Great Britain and form a new government where the people would rule themselves.
The reader finished his oration, a bit hoarse now, by proclaiming all political ties with Britain "to be totally dissolved" and the colonies to be "free and independent states." A chaplain recited Psalm 80 v3: "Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." Loud cheers washed over the commons, and Thomas Mifflin, the adjutant general reportedly climbed onto a cannon and shouted, "My lads, the Rubicon is crossed!"
Washington trotted back to his headquarters. "The whole choir of our officers went to a public house to testify our joy at the happy news of Independence. We spent the afternoon merrily," recorded Isaac Bangs. The rambunctious crowd of listeners meandered south on Broadway. Here, George III, identified that very evening in the Declaration as a tyrant "unfit to be the ruler of a free people," sat atop his gilt horse on Bowling Green. Whooping vandals broke through the iron fence surrounding the statue, clambered onto the marble pedestal, and lassoed the equestrian figure. Scores of soldiers and civilians tugged on the ropes until the two-ton statue capsized with a tremendous crash---"leveled with ye dust," a witness reported. The baying crowd decapitated the king, whacked off his nose, and clipped the laurels from his brow. Someone fired a musket ball into the head, and more balls punctured the torso. Others scraped away the ten ounces of gold leaf that covered rider and mount. With fife and drums playing "The Rogues March," the severed head was first wheeled in a barrow to the Mortier house, then impaled on a spike outside the Blue Bell Tavern. To one spectator the scene evoked the fallen angel Lucifer, as described by poet John Milton: "O how fallen! How changed!"
The head would be recovered by British Army engineer John Montresor and shipped to England to further illustrate the "disposition of the ungrateful people." The headless rider and horse were carted in fragments to a Connecticut foundry, where patriot women melted the lead, ladled it into molds, and soon sent the army 42,088 bullets. "It is hoped," the surgeon Isaac Bangs told his journal, "that the emanations of the leaden George will make as deep impressions in the bodies of some of his red-coated and Tory subjects."
Exuberant demonstrations erupted throughout the thirteen new states as word of the Declaration spread. Savanna held a sham burial of King George, accompanied by muffled drums. Other towns staged mock trials and executions. A Long Island village fashioned an effigy of the king with a wooden crown and feathers, wrapped it in a union jack packed with gun powder, then blew it up on a gallows. In Dover, Delaware, rebels tossed George's portrait into a bonfire. "Thus," they announced, "we destroy even the shadow of that king who refused to reign over a free people." In New Hampshire, mobs smashed tavern signs depicting a crown or the king's arms; some merchants refused coins with the king's likeness.
When a courier arrived in Boston around July 15 with one of the John Dunlap copies of the Declaration, local printer John Gill, a patriot and publisher who was also a leading advocate of American colonial independence from Britain, set it in type the following day and had it ready for distribution on the 18th, where it was read from the balcony of that city's Old State House for the first time. Large crowds gathered to hear the address.
In my opinion, one of the most descriptive accounts of the reading of the Declaration comes from Abigail Adams. As she wrote her husband, John, on July 21, 1776 in Boston:
"Last Thursday after hearing a very good sermon I went with the Multitude into Kings Street to hear the proclamation for independence read and proclaimed. Some Field pieces with the Train were brought there. The troops appeared under Arms and all the inhabitants assembled there (the small pox prevented many thousand from the Country). When Col Crafts read from the Belcona of the State House the Proclamation, great attention was given to every word. As soon as he ended, the cry from the Belcona, was God save our American States and then 3 cheers which rended the air. The Bells rang the privateers fired the forts and Batteries, the cannon were discharged the platoons followed and every face appeared joyfull. Mr. Bowdoin then gave a Sentiment, Stability and perpetuity to American independence. After dinner the kings arms were taken down from the State House and every vestage of him from every place in which it appeared and burnt in king street. Thus ends royall Authority in this state, and all the people shall say Amen."
In the south:
It wasn't until August of 1776 that the Declaration finally made it to England and was published on the front page of the London Chronicle. The news reinforced King George's determination to subdue the Americans by warfare. "Blows must decide if they are to be subjects to this Country or independent."
However, I would imagine it was a bit of an understatement when the London Chronicle wrote that, "everywhere (the Declaration) was received with loud huzzas, and the utmost demonstrations of joy."
Not since the spring of 1775 had spirits been so high, though the exuberance of the moment would soon be dashed, for the Regular Army would quickly create what would be the lowest point in George Washington's military career during the entire War. Through a series of American defeats, the British would soon overtake New York. According to the Mount Vernon site:
"The results were catastrophic for the American forces whose defense rapidly evaporated in the face of the swiftly moving British forces. The Americans had retreated to their defensive works on the Brooklyn heights." (For more information on this campaign, please click HERE)Washington trotted back to his headquarters. "The whole choir of our officers went to a public house to testify our joy at the happy news of Independence. We spent the afternoon merrily," recorded Isaac Bangs. The rambunctious crowd of listeners meandered south on Broadway. Here, George III, identified that very evening in the Declaration as a tyrant "unfit to be the ruler of a free people," sat atop his gilt horse on Bowling Green. Whooping vandals broke through the iron fence surrounding the statue, clambered onto the marble pedestal, and lassoed the equestrian figure. Scores of soldiers and civilians tugged on the ropes until the two-ton statue capsized with a tremendous crash---"leveled with ye dust," a witness reported. The baying crowd decapitated the king, whacked off his nose, and clipped the laurels from his brow. Someone fired a musket ball into the head, and more balls punctured the torso. Others scraped away the ten ounces of gold leaf that covered rider and mount. With fife and drums playing "The Rogues March," the severed head was first wheeled in a barrow to the Mortier house, then impaled on a spike outside the Blue Bell Tavern. To one spectator the scene evoked the fallen angel Lucifer, as described by poet John Milton: "O how fallen! How changed!"
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| Artist Johannes A. S. Oertel, working in the mid-nineteenth century, provides an imagined depiction of the destruction of George III's statue in Bowling Green, the first victim of New Yorkers' reaction to hearing news of the Declaration of Independence. Oertel places women, children, and Native Americans among what eyewitnesses recorded as a rowdy crowd of soldiers and civilians |
Exuberant demonstrations erupted throughout the thirteen new states as word of the Declaration spread. Savanna held a sham burial of King George, accompanied by muffled drums. Other towns staged mock trials and executions. A Long Island village fashioned an effigy of the king with a wooden crown and feathers, wrapped it in a union jack packed with gun powder, then blew it up on a gallows. In Dover, Delaware, rebels tossed George's portrait into a bonfire. "Thus," they announced, "we destroy even the shadow of that king who refused to reign over a free people." In New Hampshire, mobs smashed tavern signs depicting a crown or the king's arms; some merchants refused coins with the king's likeness.
When a courier arrived in Boston around July 15 with one of the John Dunlap copies of the Declaration, local printer John Gill, a patriot and publisher who was also a leading advocate of American colonial independence from Britain, set it in type the following day and had it ready for distribution on the 18th, where it was read from the balcony of that city's Old State House for the first time. Large crowds gathered to hear the address.
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| A sketch of the Declaration being read at the State House in Boston on July 18, 1776. Abigail Adams was among the crowd, as you shall read: |
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~Laura Linney as Abigail Adams
from the HBO miniseries "John Adams."
Yes, she not only very much looks the part,
but presents herself as I would imagine
the real Mrs. Adams might have. |
In the south:
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~A reading of the Declaration of Independence at the
Capitol at Colonial Williamsburg~
"Yesterday afternoon," Williamsburg's Virginia Gazette reported on July 26, 1776, "agreeable to an order of the Hon. Privy Council, the Declaration of Independence was solemnly proclaimed at the Capitol, the Courthouse, and the palace, amidst the acclamation of the people, accompanied by firing of cannon and musketry, the several regiments of continental troops having been paraded on that solemnity."
Photo courtesy of David M from the Colonial Williamsburg web site
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| One of my proudest moments was reading the Declaration at Old Fort Wayne in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. |
However, I would imagine it was a bit of an understatement when the London Chronicle wrote that, "everywhere (the Declaration) was received with loud huzzas, and the utmost demonstrations of joy."
Not since the spring of 1775 had spirits been so high, though the exuberance of the moment would soon be dashed, for the Regular Army would quickly create what would be the lowest point in George Washington's military career during the entire War. Through a series of American defeats, the British would soon overtake New York. According to the Mount Vernon site:
By the end of August, Washington decided to leave Long Island and focus on the defense of Manhattan. The British planned to attack Manhattan by landing at Kip’s Bay. On September 15, the British opened fire from their ships and proceeded to land ashore. Many of the Continental soldiers and militiamen panicked and deserted their posts. Washington managed to galvanize troops the next day on Harlem Heights, forcing back three battalions of British light infantry. The small victory was tactically unimportant, but went a long way towards reinvigorating the Continental Army’s morale."
Not every colonist was pleased, however. On July 9th, recent immigrant diarist Nicholas Cresswell, a young English gentry farmer living in Virginia, wrote: "At Mr. Kirks. News that the Sanhedrim had declared that the thirteen united Colonies, Free and Independent States. That this was intended by the Northern Colonies from the first I am well convinced..."
Cresswell then presents two letters from 1775 (that were written by John Adams) which fell into British hands when the currier was captured in Rhode Island. In them Adams speaks of the military build up of the Continentals to go against the British Army, among other items.
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| Francis Lewis |
Lewis' wife, Elizabeth, remained calm as the soldiers advanced and a British warship opened fire on the house. A soldier tore the glittering buckles from her shoes that looked to him like gold but were really just pinchbeck. “All that glitters is not gold,” she remarked to the disheartened young man. The soldiers destroyed books from Lewis' valuable library, papers, and pictures, and ruthlessly broke up furniture. After thoroughly pillaging the house they took Elizabeth captive and threw her into prison without a bed or a change of clothing, and with scant food. When this was brought to the attention of General Washington, he ordered the arrest of Mrs. Barren, wife of the British Paymaster-General, and Mrs. Kempe, wife of the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He made it known that his captives would receive the same treatment as Mrs. Lewis unless an exchange was made. The exchange was arranged, but Elizabeth’s health was seriously impaired by her captivity and imprisonment. She joined Francis in Philadelphia in broken health and died in June 1779 with Francis at her side.
But more devastation was to befell other signers:
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| William Floyd |
And there were more instances like these. 'Twas a very tough break for many of the signers to now have their names immortalized.
After the "high" of hearing the Declaration of Independence, the rest of 1776 did not go nearly as well as hoped. And the War itself continued on until 1783, ultimately (and fortunately) with the Americans winning. Why the bedraggled farmers continued the fight with the hell they went through, I honestly couldn't say, but I do believe the thought of being a free and independent nation must have played a large role.
If you are like me and are interested in the lives of the common Revolutionary War soldier and civilian, you would do yourself well by checking out the following books:
The Last Muster: Images of the Revolutionary War Generation
and
The Last Muster: Images of the American Revolution Vol. 2
both by Maureen Taylor
(Or, for a quick overview of the above books, click HERE)
Learning about the men who fought to give us a new nation is the best homage we can pay to them
As I mentioned, this is the third 4th of July that I've posted about the Declaration of Independence, and each from a different angle. If all three postings were read together (see links below), a nice cohesive overview of this most important document can be found and easily understood.
Those that know me know I am a patriotic person. I always have been. And I hope that some of my patriotism might rub off on others, for that seems to be lacking, and has been for over a decade.
Well, time to bring it back!
Happy Independence Day!
Until next time, see you in time.
And to read about the everyday lives for people who lived in the time of the signing of the Declaration, please click HERE
A fantastic movie/mini-series about our founding generation - and one particular founding father & mother in general, is the John Adams mini-series. Click HERE to purchase it. And if you don't already have it, you should seriously consider buying it.
Sources:
Lives of the Signers by Benson Lossing
Declaration of Independence by Rod Gragg
Reporting the Revolutionary War by Todd Andrlik
1776: The Illustrated Edition by David McCullough
My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams
The Spirit of Seventy-Six by Henry Steele Commager & Richard B. Morris
The description of George Washington's aid reading the Declaration and the occurrences afterward were taken verbatim as written from the Mount Vernon website as well as from the book by Rick Atkinson, "The British Are Coming," and "The Decraration of Independence" by Rod Gragg. Yes, I do this as sort of a Reader's Digest condensed version every-so-often, for two reasons:
1) because usually the descriptions take the reader right to the spot where it all took place
and
2) in hopes that the snippets will entice the reader to search out the source and dig deeper to expand even further into the subject.
Now, if you've read this far, then here are a few Independence Day "funnies" for you to enjoy:
Have a Happy and Safe Independence Day!!
After the "high" of hearing the Declaration of Independence, the rest of 1776 did not go nearly as well as hoped. And the War itself continued on until 1783, ultimately (and fortunately) with the Americans winning. Why the bedraggled farmers continued the fight with the hell they went through, I honestly couldn't say, but I do believe the thought of being a free and independent nation must have played a large role.
If you are like me and are interested in the lives of the common Revolutionary War soldier and civilian, you would do yourself well by checking out the following books:
The Last Muster: Images of the Revolutionary War Generation
and
The Last Muster: Images of the American Revolution Vol. 2
both by Maureen Taylor
(Or, for a quick overview of the above books, click HERE)
Learning about the men who fought to give us a new nation is the best homage we can pay to them
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As I mentioned, this is the third 4th of July that I've posted about the Declaration of Independence, and each from a different angle. If all three postings were read together (see links below), a nice cohesive overview of this most important document can be found and easily understood.
Those that know me know I am a patriotic person. I always have been. And I hope that some of my patriotism might rub off on others, for that seems to be lacking, and has been for over a decade.
Well, time to bring it back!
Happy Independence Day!
Until next time, see you in time.
Now Before you leave, you may want to read two more postings I put together to give you a better understanding of our nation's most famous document.
Begin with THIS one, for it will give you a background on the Declaration itself as well as a list of all 56 signers.
Next, go to THIS post, for it speaks of the printers and the printing of the Declaration and the delivery of this so-important broadside to the colonies.
To read about some of the cool Revolutionary War artifacts that tell the story of our fight for Independence, click HEREAnd to read about the everyday lives for people who lived in the time of the signing of the Declaration, please click HERE
A fantastic movie/mini-series about our founding generation - and one particular founding father & mother in general, is the John Adams mini-series. Click HERE to purchase it. And if you don't already have it, you should seriously consider buying it.
Sources:
Lives of the Signers by Benson Lossing
Declaration of Independence by Rod Gragg
Reporting the Revolutionary War by Todd Andrlik
1776: The Illustrated Edition by David McCullough
My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams
The Spirit of Seventy-Six by Henry Steele Commager & Richard B. Morris
The description of George Washington's aid reading the Declaration and the occurrences afterward were taken verbatim as written from the Mount Vernon website as well as from the book by Rick Atkinson, "The British Are Coming," and "The Decraration of Independence" by Rod Gragg. Yes, I do this as sort of a Reader's Digest condensed version every-so-often, for two reasons:
1) because usually the descriptions take the reader right to the spot where it all took place
and
2) in hopes that the snippets will entice the reader to search out the source and dig deeper to expand even further into the subject.
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Now, if you've read this far, then here are a few Independence Day "funnies" for you to enjoy:
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| My sister and Ben Franklin could be (but aren't) related |
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| Yep---I've had this happen. |
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| Heh heh heh |
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| Wouldn't that be a hoot if she really did ask? |
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| Kind of the way John Adams wanted the celebration to be. |
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| I don't know if this is true or not, but I hope so. |
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| As one who portrays Paul Revere, I can tell you he did not ride around giving out presents to everyone. He only gave them to the Patriots. |
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