The Countdown to July 4
To the Editor:
Reflecting on our patriotic ancestors 250 years ago, we ask: did they need to justify seeking independence and would that help their chances of success? We might joke that independence was so we could have speeches, parades, fireworks, beer and hotdogs on every July 4. The decision to rebel followed robust debate, fragile negotiation, and desperate planning. Any country seeking the moral high ground in war or major military operation is obligated to justify to other countries its reason for doing so. That obligation was especially the case for British subjects who were rebelling. Today, the USA can go to war by issuing orders, in electronic speed. That was not the case in 1776. The Continental Congress believed it was morally and strategically obligated to explain and justify its action.
The Declaration sets out this compelling moral proposition: to secure the right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Colonial leadership acknowledged “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the governed.” If the British government failed to serve colonists’ rights, were Patriots privileged to rebel? “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes.” “When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.”
Aggrieved by the British Government’s acts alleged to be “coercive” and “intolerable,” colonial agitators formed the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774. The general purpose was to achieve reconciliation with Great Britain, which transactionally doubted the colonials’ appeals were justified. On October 20, 1774, the Congress passed the Continental Association, to boycott British trade and pressure Great Britain to repeal the Intolerable Acts, which were implemented after the Boston Tea Party. Britain countered with the New England Restraining Act. Was hope for reconciliation dashed, especially as punch met counterpunch?
The militia battles of Concord and Lexington occurred on April 19, 1775. The Second Continental Congress established the Continental Army on June 14, 1775 (the anniversary of our Army) and elected George Washington commander-in-chief. The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775.
On July 8, 1775, the Second Continental Congress offered the Olive Branch Petition to George III affirming American loyalty. Written primarily by John Dickerson, of “Pennsylvania Farmer” fame, the Olive Branch sought reconciliation by having Britain recognize the legitimacy of colonial complaints and rights to fairer tax and trade treatment. During the deliberation over the Olive Branch, more radical patriots proposed on July 6, 1775, a Declaration of Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms. It affirmed the Patriots’cause but emphasized they did not seek independence, only “defense of freedom and birthright.”
Refusing to acknowledge or read the Olive Branch, King George issued the Proclamation of Rebellion in August 1775 in response to the battle of Bunker Hill. That document proclaimed the colonists were in rebellion. The countdown to July 4, 1776’s Declaration began. King George and Parliament presumed that its great army and navy would quickly prevail, and the wispy rebellion would end with a whimper.
The ContinentalArmy was built with standing militias. Staples of colonial life, they were not an organized, trained, and properly equipped army. One reason for the Declaration was to earn the privilege of seeking allies. Where better to look than France, the longtime enemy of the English? One candidate with modest military training but enormous enthusiasm to prove himself was the 19 year-old Marquis de La Fayette. He was not a Versailles fop but a believer in common people. Ironically, if he had not helped the rebellion succeed, what would be the name of our county, its seat, and a town, Fayetteville? Another day, another letter.