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Show Adoption of Declaration by Congress (Fiom Jefferson's Autobiography.) In Congress, Friday, June 7, 1776. Tlie delegates from Virginia moved, In obedience to Instrurtlons from thelc constituents, thnt the Congress should declare that these- United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, nod that all . political connection between them and the State of Great Britain Is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; that meas: ores should be Immediately taken for procuring the assistance of foreign powers, and a confederation be formed to bind the Colonies more closely together. The House being obliged to attend at that time to some other business, the proposition was referred to the next day, and the members were ordered or-dered to attend punctually at 10 o'clock. Saturday, June 8. They proceeded to take it into consideration and referred re-ferred it to a committee of the whole, into which they Immediately resolved themselves, and passed that day and Monday, the 10th, In debating on the subject It was argued by Wilson, Robert R. Livingston, E. liutledge, Dickinson Dickin-son and others That, Though they were friends to the measure themselves. and saw the Impossibility that we should ever again be united with Grent Britain, yet they were against adopting them at this time; That the conduct we had formerly observed was wise and proper now, of deferring to take any capital step till the voice of the people drove us into It; That they were our. power, and without them our declarations could not be carried Into effect; That the people of I he Middle Colonies Colo-nies (Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Pennsyl-vania, the Jerseys and New York) were not yet ripe for bidding adieu to British connection, but that they were fast ripening, find, in a short time,' would Join in the general voice of America. e On the other side, it was urged by J. Adams, Lee, Wythe and others, that no gentleman had argued ngalnst the policy or the right of separation from Britain, nor had supposr-d It possible we should ever renew our connection; that they had only opposed op-posed Its being now declared. That the question was nor whether, by a Declaration of Independence, we should make ourselves what we me not, but whether we should de clare a fact which already exMsls. That, as to the people or Parliament Parlia-ment o' England, we !iad always been Independent of them, their restraints on our trade deriving ellicacy from our acquiescence only and not from any rights they possessed of imposing impos-ing them, and that so far our connection connec-tion had been ,FederoI only and was now dissolved by the commencement of hostilities. That, as to the King, we had been bound to him by allegiance, but that UiIs bond wa3 now. dissolved by his assent to the last act of Parliament, by which he declares us out of his protection, and by his levying war on us, a fact which had long ago proved us out of his protection; it being a certain position In. law that allegiance and. protection are reciprocal, the one ceasing when the other 13 withdrawn. ...' It appearing In the course of these debates that the -Colonies of New York, . New Jersey,- Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland und South Carolina Caro-lina were not yet matured for falling from the parent stem, but that they were fast advancing to that state, it was thought most prudent to wait a while for them, and to postpone the final decision to July 1 ; but, that this might occasion as little delay as possible, pos-sible, a committee was appointed to prepare a Declaration of Independence. Independ-ence. Tlie committee were John Adams, Dr. Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston and myself. Committees were also appointed at the same time to prepare a plan of confederation for the Colonies and to state the terms proper to be proposed pro-posed for foreign alliance. -The committee com-mittee for drawing the Declaration of Independence desired me to do IL It was accordingly done, and being approved ap-proved by them, I reported it to the House on Friday, the 2Sth of June, when It was read and ordered to lie on the table. On Monday, the 1st of July, the House resolved Itself Into a committee of the whole and resumed the consideration of the original motion mo-tion made by the delegates of Virginia, Vir-ginia, which, being again debated through the day, was carried In the nfilrmntlve by the votes of New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Massachu-setts, Rhode Island and Georgia. South Carolina and Pennsylvania voted against It, Delaware had but two members present, and they were divided. The delegates . from New New York declared I hey were for It themselves and were assured their constituents were for it; but that their Instructions having been drawn near a twelve-month before, when reconciliation was still the general object, they were enjoined by them to do nothing which should Impede that object. They, therefore, thought themselves not Justifiable In voting on either side, and asked leave to withdraw with-draw from the question; which was given them. The committee rose and reported their resolution fo the House. Mr. Edward Rutled?e of South Carolina Caro-lina then requested the determination might be put off to the next day, as he believed his colleagues, though they disapproved of the resolution, would then Join In It for the sake of unanimity. The ultimate question, whether the House would agree to the resolution of the committee, was accordingly postponed to the next day, when It was again moved, and South Carolina concurred in voting for It. In the- mean time, a third member had come post from the Dela ware counties and turned the vote of that Colony in favor of the resolution. Members of a different sentiment attending at-tending that morning from Pennsylvania Pennsyl-vania also, her vote was changed, bo that the whole twelve Colonies who were authorized to vct at all gave their voices for it; and, vsUhln a few days, the convention of Nep York approved of it and thus supplied the void occasioned by the withdrawing: of her delegates from the vote. Congress proceeded the same day to consider the Declaration of Independence, Inde-pendence, which had been reported and lain on the table the Friday preceding pre-ceding and on Monday referred to a committee of the whole. The pusillanimous pusil-lanimous idea that we had friends In England worth keeping, terms with still haunted the minds of many. For this reason, those passages which conveyed con-veyed censures on the people of England Eng-land were struck out, lest they should give them offense. The clause, too, reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants inhab-itants of Africa was struck out In conaplaisance to South Carolina and Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the Importation of slaves, and who, on the contrary, still wished to continue it. Our Northern brethren also, I believe, felt a little tender under un-der those censures; for though their people had very few slaves themselves, them-selves, yet they had been pretty considerable con-siderable carriers of them to others. The debates, having taken up the greater parts of the 2d, 3d and 4th days of July, were, on the evening of the last, closed; the Declaration was repoited by the committee, agreed to by the House, and signed by every member present, except Mr. Dickinson. Dickin-son. Fraunces' Tavern Relic of Revolutionary Days Fraunces tavern, in New York city, was once a meeting place for Revolutionists, Revolu-tionists, later a warehouse, and still later a saloon, but now stands restored re-stored to Its aspect as a tavern. The Sons of the Revolution In the state of New York bought the old building after it had descended to the status of a saloon. It has been reconstructed, recon-structed, and Its interior and exterior conform as nearly as possible to the Fraunces' tavern of Revolutionary days. John Adams and the delegates to the second Continental congress stopped overnight there on the way to Philadelphia. The Sons of Liberty and the Vigilance committee met there on April 22. 1774, and planned the attack on the London, New York's "tea party." In August, 1775, a shot flred from the British ship Asia struck the building. The New York provincial congress assembled there from May 18 to June 30. 1770. During the Revolutionary war the tavern contributed Its lead window weights to the manufacture of bullets. These bullets were used with effect at Forts Montgomery and Clinton. It also was the birthplace of the first chamber cham-ber of commerce in America, In 17S0. |