The origins of the Declaration of Independence in America date back over 200 years before Columbus even discovered land in the Western Hemisphere and brought the news back to Europe. The Declaration is not only the culmination of a long series of major complaints sent back to King George III, but also a continuation of the great debate in Britain of who is really in charge. To see how this all came about, we need to go back to England on June 15, 1215, to a meadow named Runnymede alongside the Thames River near where Windsor Castle stands today.
Constitution of the United Kingdom: It was in 1215 at Runnymede that King John agreed to the rights of the Magna Carta, or Great Charter, that guaranteed protection of church rights, a stationary court with swift and impartial judgements, the obligation to call together the “common council” (or Parliament) representing the population, and separation of church and state, among other things. This is the first evidence in British history of a king’s authority being compromised with the formation of Parliament, and it did not come easily as the war that started it didn’t end for two more years. In the 1600’s Great Britain went through nearly a century of conflict over who’s authority was paramount—Parliament’s or the Crown’s. When the Glorious Revolution in 1688 deposed King James II, two more legislative acts emerged from Parliament: The Bill of Rights 1689, and the Claim of Right Act, providing more written evidence that pointed to the forming of a nationwide constitution. These acts also provided solid evidence that Parliament was the absolute authority in Great Britain and not the Crown. There have been other acts, treaties, and legal instruments in British history that have all added up to what amounts to the Constitution of the United Kingdom. However, it has never been codified to this day, making it subject to scrutiny and easier to change by one political faction or another. It could be that British politicians want it that way.
Events Leading Up to the U.S. Declaration of Independence: Great Britain became embroiled in a wide-reaching conflict known as the Seven Year’s War from 1756-1763. Although primarily involving European powers lined up against each other, it was a global conflict that encompassed the American Colonies via the French and Indian War of 1754-1763. When it all ended, Britain’s Treasury was nearly depleted and the empire very deep in debt. In April, 1763, George Grenville became both Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, bringing the debt issue to the forefront. One result was taxing the American colonies with a long-standing British tax, the Stamp Act. It was the beginning of a series of tax measures, followed by American protests, British suppression, and war that carried on through 1781. The protests were not limited to taxation, and they progressively became more violent until the Battle of Lexington and Concord, in April 1775, where British forces had nearly 300 casualties including at least 73 killed. As the fighting progressed with other battles, representatives of all 13 colonies thought it best in May, 1775, to meet again in Philadelphia forming the Second Continental Congress to make an official appeal to King George III in an effort to mitigate the acts of Parliament. Most North American English-speaking colonists believed themselves to be loyal subjects of King George, and subsequently did not fully understand that Parliament held the high cards in British politics and not the King. Many did not believe that Parliament had the legal right to tax them in the same manner as British citizens residing in England. It may have come as a shock to many when King George’s response to Congress’s overtures for peaceful reconciliation was to reject their peace initiative and send a huge army to North America to enforce Parliamentary acts. The news of the King’s response arrived in early 1776—about the same time as Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense” was published and distributed to over 150,000 readers. Common Sense made a reasonable and passionate appeal for independence that had not been raised before to such a great number of the colonial population. In February, 1776, Parliament passed the Prohibitory Act that shut down all trade between Great Britain and the North American colonies, and removed the colonies from the King’s protection. It constituted a virtual declaration of war as American merchant ships were to be considered as enemies. In March, 1776, the North Carolina revolutionary convention voted in favor of declaring independence, becoming the first colony to do so. Seven more colonies likewise voted for separation from Britain before the end of May. On June 7th, Richard Henry Lee of the Virginia delegation introduced to the full Continental Congress a measure to declare independence in an effort to force a vote. A raucous debate ensued and the vote was postponed. Instead, on June 11th, a committee of five delegates was selected to draft what would eventually become the United States Declaration of Independence.
Committee of Five: The “committee of five” consisted of John Adams (Massachusetts), Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania), Robert R. Livingston (New York), Roger Sherman (Connecticut), and Thomas Jefferson (Virginia). The committee did not keep any notes, therefore there is no official record of what transpired among them. It is generally believed that the committee set up guidelines and ground rules for the first draft to be written, and then gave the actual writing task to the thirty-three-year-old Jefferson, an accomplished writer. Adams may have steered the committee toward Jefferson by promising to consult with him regularly. Jefferson wrote the rough draft mainly in the isolation of his rented quarters in Philadelphia near Independence Hall, in between meetings, votes, and other official capacities he had with the Second Continental Congress. The rough draft was the first of several drafts that the committee of five worked with. On June 28th, the latest version of the draft was finished, and the committee submitted it to Congress. Over the next two days, Congress, acting as a “committee of the whole” went about editing the draft, changing some sentence structures, and shortening it by about twenty-five percent. On July 1st, the draft encompassing all changes was still on the table, and the debate switched back to the resolution of declaring independence.
Ratification: Politically speaking, the process of ratifying the document presented diverse issues as not all of the colonies had authorized their delegations to commit to independence. Each colony would cast one vote, but there were different avenues as to how the delegates were required to proceed. After a long day of debate filled with speeches, politics, and reasoning, Benjamin Harrison (Virginia), who was presiding over the committee of the whole, called a vote while the measure was still in committee. New York abstained as the delegates did not have permission to vote on independence from the N.Y. Assembly, Delaware’s two delegates were divided resulting in a “no” vote, but the other delegations were in favor of the resolution enabling it to pass from committee to the floor of Congress. South Carolina was in favor of unanimity, but opposed to the resolution, and therefore moved to delay the vote by one day. On July 2nd, the vote was taken with South Carolina and any other dissenting delegations all working out their issues except for New York, who again abstained pending the New York Provincial Congress’ granting the authority to cast the vote (a process that took another week to resolve). With twelve colonies voting yes and one abstention, the measure passed, providing the colonies with a formal severance of ties with Great Britain.
Signing: Ratification was completed in two more days on July 4th as the content and wording were again edited, and arrangements were made for the document to be printed as a broadside and distributed to all newspapers in the continent. Then the signing process began with John Hancock, President of the Congress, signing first making the document official. The fifty-six remaining delegates also signed the document, but it is not clear as to when this happened. Most if not all of the requisite signatories pondered the solemnity of the act. If British authorities ever discovered the completed and signed document, it would have meant treason against the King, punishable by “torture and death.” Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin all wrote that the signing took place on July 4th, but not all fifty-six were present in Philadelphia at that time. Historians believe that the majority of the signers affixed their signatures the first week of August.
Conclusions: The fact that Parliament ruled the British Empire in 1776 and not the King may have weighed heavily in the story of the Declaration of Independence. It took months for the news of an act passed by Parliament to reach the American colonies. There was no representation in Parliament for the colonists’ point of view to explain the consequence of the acts on the colonial population. Taxing was especially severe as the colonists on average did not earn nearly as much as the typical non-colonial British citizen. The colonists presented a united voice through their own assemblies and the continental congress to the King, but not to Parliament, placing the onus on King George III to help resolve the crisis. It’s not clear if King George would have tried to resolve the issues even if he had the authority. Most colonists professed loyalty to the King, but were unable to have their grievances even heard by Parliament.
Sources:
Wikipedia, United States Declaration of Independence.
Wikipedia, Constitution of the United Kingdom.
History.com, Declaration of Independence, June 24, 2024.