SECTION

2 Declaring
TEKS 1A, 1C, 4B, 4C, 15C, 19A,
20A, 25A
Independence
What You Will Learn…
If YOU were there...
Main Ideas You live on a farm in New York in 1776. The conflicts with the British
1. Thomas Paine’s Common
have torn your family apart. Your father is loyal to King George and
Sense led many colonists to
support independence. wants to remain British. But your mother is a fierce Patriot, and your
2. Colonists had to choose sides
brother wants to join the Continental Army. Your father and others
when independence was
declared. who feel the same way are moving to British-held Canada. Now you
3. The Declaration of Indepen-
must decide what you will do.
dence did not address the
rights of all colonists.
Would you go to Canada or support the Patriots?

The Big Idea

The colonies formally declared
their independence from Great Building Background The outbreak of violence at Lexington,
Britain. Concord, and Boston took some colonists by surprise. Many, like the
father above, opposed independence from Britain. Those who
supported freedom began to promote their cause in many ways.
Key Terms and People
Common Sense, p. 118
Thomas Paine, p. 118
Declaration of Independence, p. 119
Paine’s Common Sense
Thomas Jefferson, p. 119 “[There] is something very absurd in supporting a continent to
Loyalists, p. 119 be perpetually [forever] governed by an island.” This plainspoken
argument against British rule over America appeared in Common
Sense, a 47-page pamphlet that was distributed in Philadelphia in
January 1776. Common Sense was published anonymously—that is,
Use the graphic organizer online without the author’s name. The author, Thomas Paine, argued that
to take notes on the Declaration of citizens, not kings and queens, should make laws. At a time when
Independence. monarchs ruled much of the world, this was a bold idea.
News of the work spread throughout the colonies, eventually
selling some 500,000 copies. Paine reached a wide audience by
writing as a common person speaking to common people. Common
Sense changed the way many colonists viewed their king. It made a
strong case for economic freedom and for the right to military self-
defense. It cried out against tyranny—that is, the abuse of govern-
ment power. Thomas Paine’s words rang out in his time, and they
have echoed throughout American history.

Reading Check Supporting a Point of View Would you have agreed

with Thomas Paine? Explain.

118 Chapter 4
Independence Is Declared accused the king of passing unfair laws and
Many colonial leaders agreed with Paine. In interfering with colonial governments. He
June 1776 the Second Continental Congress also believed that stationing a large British
began writing a document declaring inde- army within the colonies was a burden.
pendence. A committee also created a seal Third, Jefferson stated that the colonies
for the new country with the Latin motto had the right to break from Britain. Influ-
“E pluribus unum” or “out of many, one.” This enced by the Enlightenment ideal of the
motto recognized the new union of states. social contract, he maintained that govern-
ments and rulers must protect the rights of
A New Philosophy of Government citizens. In exchange, the people agree to be
The Declaration of Independence formally governed. Jefferson argued that King George
announced the colonies’ break from Great III had broken the social contract. The Impact

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress

Today
Britain. In doing so, it expressed three main
approved the Declaration of Independence. The Continental
ideas. First, Thomas Jefferson, the docu- Congress voted
ment’s main author, argued that all people This act broke all ties to the British crown. for independence
possess unalienable rights, or rights that are The United States of America was born. on July 2. How-
ever, because the
a natural part of being born and cannot be Declaration was
taken away. These include the rights of “life, Choosing Sides not approved until
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The signing of the Declaration made the rebel- July 4, the fourth
is celebrated
Next, Jefferson listed the complaints of lion a full-scale revolt against Britain. Those
today as Indepen-
the colonists. He asserted that King George who supported it would be considered traitors. dence Day.
III had violated the colonists’ rights by tax- Colonists who chose to side with the British
ing them without their consent. Jefferson were known as Loyalists—often called Tories.

Primary Source
POINTS OF VIEW
Choosing Sides
When Ben Franklin’s son William was a child, he
helped his father experiment with lightning.
But by the time William had grown and the
Revolution started, the two men viewed the
“ I think that all laws un-
til they are repealed ought
conflict differently. They exchanged letters to be obeyed and that it
on the subject. is the duty of those
who are entrusted
“ I am indeed of the opinion, that the
parliament has no right to make any law
with the executive
part of government
whatever, binding on the colonies . . .
to see that they
I know your sentiments differ from mine
on these subjects. You are a thorough
are so.
”
—William Franklin,
government man, which I do not
quoted in Benjamin and
wonder at, nor do I aim at convert- William Franklin by Sheila L. Skemp
ing you. I only wish you to act
uprightly and steadily.
—Benjamin Franklin,
” ANALYSIS
skill ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
quoted in The Writings of Benjamin
Franklin Vol. III How did the two men view the British government
differently?

the american revolution 119

Signing the Declaration of Independence

VIDEO
Jefferson Writes
the Declaration
of Independence

Historians estimate that 40 to 45 percent of Unfinished Business

Americans were Patriots, while 20 to 30 per-
Today we recognize that the Declaration
cent were Loyalists. The rest were neutral.
of Independence excluded many colo-
Because of persecution by Patriots, more
nists. While it declared that “all men are
than 50,000 Loyalists fled the colonies during
created equal,” the document failed to
the Revolution. Most went to Canada, where
mention women, enslaved Africans, or
Britain allowed them more self-rule after the
Native Americans. The rights of these
Revolution. In doing so, they abandoned their
minorities would be subject to the rule of
homes and property. Divided allegiances
the majority.
tore apart families and friendships—even
Benjamin Franklin became separated from his
Women
Loyalist son William.
Although many women were Patriots, the
Native Americans were at first encour-
Declaration did not address their rights. At
aged by both sides to remain neutral. By the
least one delegate’s wife, Abigail Adams, tried
summer of 1776, however, both Patriots and
to influence her husband, John, to include
the British were aggressively recruiting Indi-
women’s rights in the Declaration. In a failed
an fighters. Most sided with the British. In
effort, she expressed her concerns:
northern New York, four of the six Iroquois
nations fought for the British. However, the “Remember the Ladies, and be more generous
Oneida and Tuscarora helped the Patriots, and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do
even delivering food to the soldiers at Valley not put such unlimited power into the hands of
Forge. the Husbands . . . If particular care and attention
is not paid to the Ladies we are and will not hold
Reading Check Drawing Conclusions Why ourselves bound by Laws in which we have no
would Native Americans have lost out no matter voice, or Representation. ”
—Abigail Adams, quoted in Notable American Women
who won the war?

120 Chapter 4
 2 4 6
1 3 5
7 SUmmary and preview In 1776 the
colonists declared their independence. To
achieve their goal, however, they would
have to win a war against the British army.
In the next section you will learn about
some of the battles of the Revolutionary
War. For a time, it seemed as if the British
would defeat the colonists.
1 John Adams 5 Benjamin Franklin
2 Roger Sherman 6 Charles Thomson
3 Robert Livingston 7 John Hancock
4 Thomas Jefferson
Section 2 Assessment ONLINE QUIZ
The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July
4, 1776. This painting shows 47 of the 56 signers of the Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
document. The man sitting on the right is John Han- 1. a. Identify Who was Thomas Paine?
cock, who was the president of the Second Continental b. Make Inferences Why do you think Thomas Paine origi-
Congress. He is accepting the Declaration from the
nally published Common Sense anonymously?
committee that wrote it.
c. Elaborate Do you think that most colonists would have
How realistic do you think this painting is? supported independence from Britain without Thomas Paine’s
publication of Common Sense? Explain.
2. a. Identify What two sides emerged in response to the
African and Native Americans Declaration of Independence? What did each side favor?
The Declaration did not recognize the rights b. Explain What arguments did the authors of the Declara-
of enslaved Africans, either. The authors had tion of Independence give for declaring the colonies free
compared life under British rule to living as from British control?
an enslaved people. The obvious question c. Predict Define and give some examples of “unalienable
arose: Why did any form of slavery exist in rights.” How might some groups use the Declaration of
Independence in the future to gain rights?
a land that valued personal freedom? Even
3. a. Identify Who urged her husband to “remember the
Thomas Jefferson, the main author of the
ladies”?
Declaration, was a slaveholder. b. Making Inferences Why did the authors of the Declara-
In July 1776 slavery was legal in all the tion of Independence fail to address the rights of women,
colonies. By the 1780s the New England Native Americans, and African Americans in the document?
colonies were taking steps to end slavery.
Critical Thinking
Even so, the conflict over slavery continued
4. Analyzing Review your notes on the Declaration of
long after the Revolutionary War.
Independence. Then copy the graphic organizer below and
The Declaration of Independence also did
use it to identify three results of the Declaration of
not address the rights of Native Americans to Independence.
life, liberty, or property. Despite the Proclama-
tion of 1763, American colonists had been Declaration of
1. ___________
2. ___________
quietly settling on lands that belonged to Independence
3. ___________
Native Americans. This tendency to disregard
the rights of Native Americans would develop
into a pattern after the colonists won their
Focus on Speaking
independence from Great Britain. 5. Gathering Ideas about the Declaration of Indepen-
dence You are living at the time of the American Revolution.
Reading Check Finding Main Ideas What What is new and surprising about the colonists’ actions? In one
groups were unrepresented in the Declaration of or two minutes, what is the most important thing you can say
Independence? about the colonies’ declaring independence?

the american revolution 121