| Show fw 1 airn AW ft ill J 7 v 5 INA ame mme crair 1 I d 1 17 i by JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN HERE Is of 01 course but one of independence pen dence the declaration of independence e celebrate on the fourth of if july it makes no difference that idich ard henry lees resold tion that these united ca colonies tire lire find and of right ought to be free find and independent tates inas as introduced in ili congress june 7 1770 1776 that it was adopted july 2 and eliat the document itself was not lot ninde mode public until july 5 1 an and d was wa s not signed by the members of congress until august 2 it was on oil july 4 1770 that tile the vote on oil the declaration itself was taken arid and the document ordered authenticated and printed so the fourth of july it Is fu fuld ever eier shall be nevertheless there tire are other declarations la rations and ill some of them come pretty near being declarations of li il dependence except that they were not adopted by congress the truth is that independence was in the lie or air for aime onto line before july 4 1770 1776 the leaders preferred to say that they were petitioners petition ers lit in arms even after lexington and concord nil and bunker hill n and rid unity many of them liem doubtless lilt hied no determination for independence but the people in many localities were ripe for independence so it 1 Is s it not 0 t to lie ile wondered that some of them ru made a declarations I 1 one of the earliest of these declarations la was that of the people of mendon mass march 1 1773 it speaks for itself and here it Is that all men have naturally nn an equal right to life liberty and property that all just and lawful government must originate in the free consent of the people that the good happiness and safety ot of the people Is the great end of civil government that a principle of self preservation erva being duly planted by the god of nature in every human breast it Is necessary not only to the well being of the individual but also to the order of the universe as attraction and cohesion are to the preservation of material bodies and the order 0 of f the jaural natural world that a voluntary renunciation of any power or privileges included in or necessarily connected with a principle of self preservation Is manifestly acting counter to the will of the great author of nature the supreme legislator that a right to liberty and property Is absolutely inalienable 1 that the claim of the parliament of i great britain to the power of legisla 1 tion for the colonies in all cases what mciever ever la Is abhorrent to the spirit and I 1 genius of the british constitution to the letter of our charter find and to the mos most t obvious principles of reason anil and to the essential natural rights given us by god almighty and finally that the introduction of standing armies in a free country in time of peace without the consent of the people ls Is a violation of their rights as free men then there Is the declaration of the people of hannas town may 18 16 ITT 1775 on that day the men of that portion ot of the colony of pennsylvania lying west of laurel mountain arid and embraced lit III the present limits of the county of westmoreland then and for long afterwards claimed by virginia to be within the limits of augusta county in the old dominion assembled at hannas town then the seat of justice to take counsel on the situation tile the first two of i the document adapted are as follows at a genwri lil tue etin of tho the in iq r N e aj 21 IM I 1 i A ari I 1 1 1 hali habitants tants of westmoreland county held nt tunas inas town on may for tiang tai liaf into the very ver situation of domitri ocia oci a cloned iv by the lie di dispute with great brit 1 alit ln un alint the I 1 p of curvat in at britain by 1 sev MV enil ra I 1 late nets lias has declared tit alio inhabitants of massachusetts I 1 liny lay to ile he in r rebellion e and the lie ministry by bv or oiling ing to ennoree alil nets tins lins ut nt temp tempter tei to i nines behice till tile said antti to tc a moie inure 1 I tell state of slavery i than ali in ever before existed in any counti 1 I 1 not content fth thus violating th their el r constitutional arid chartered privileges iles they the bould strip them ot of ti belr 1 tits of immunity exposing their alts to the wanton canton und and sport port of a n licentious soldiery lind and depth driving ins them of the cry means of subsistence sl si stence resolved unanimously vint there Is no reason to doubt but the same system of tyranny rind and oppression fiill should it meet with ft ath success in massachusetts chu be extended to other parts of amerlean it Is therefore become the indispensable duty of every Amer amerlean lenn of every man who vilio tins has any love loe for iiii his country or any an bowels for poster ity it by every eiery menus means which hlf h god lins has pu put t in tits his power to resist resl it and oppose the execution of it that for us we ve will lie be ready to oppose it with our lives an and fortunes and the better to enable us to accomplish it we will immediately mod lately form ourselves into a trill tary t ir body to consist of f companies to tn be made up tip out of the several town hips hipa under the following association mitch kiich Is declared to be the association of county and fian lly there Is the flit famous so ailed declaration of ind pen dence adopted at charlotte county north carolina Caroll mi amny aln 20 1775 of which the first three L solutions resolutions are aie as follows resolved that whosoever directly or indirectly abetted or in any way wn form or manner countenance tile the un lan chartered and dangerous invasion of our rights its as claimed by great britain Is an enemy to this country to america arid and to the inherent and inalienable all enable rights of roan man resolved that we tilt the citizens of mecklenburg md kl enburg county do hereby dissolve the political bonds which have connected us to the mother country arid hereby absolve ourselves from all tille alleR glance lanco to the british crown aud and abjure all political connection contact or association with that nation who illi has wantonly trampled on our rights and inhumanly shed the blood orimer of american patriots at lexington resolved Ite solved that we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people and of right ought to be a sovereign and self governing asso agao cin cintioni tion under the control of no po porter er other than that of our god and the general government of the congress to the maintenance of which independence we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual operation cooperation co ofir our lives our fortunes and our most sacred lionor honor the mecklenburg convention contention was na called for may abay 19 its original purpose was ns to pronounce pion ounce the annulment 0 till nil limi laws and in fit cone quence of the aings addi c i of fell I 1 ch auary declaring dr luIns tile clonus coloon s lit in 1 I 1 rate n mid lind to anilu anil ln sm for i n I 1 temporary awin fn of niu mint ul billit until 11 instructions fr finin in aliu tit pr it it till il congress regulating the jurl of flit liall adall oroile pr oIle othea me ie M e or the itie legislative dekl antle body liol of C griat t britain resigns lt it atilid ineil tino with etli r to america lit in tills this expectation act wa ii set et of re ol 01 lit bolls lolls lini had been prepared discussion Dis Disc cuilon or those these resolutions as interrupted by 1 tile hie arrival of a cour ler with ith tilt aliu news of lexington the hie convent convention lon reassembled embed la in a fury j jf pat it seethed and until well into the morning of slay may 20 alien hen the quoted paragraphs we re adopted as a preliminary to tilt the ilir business of 0 tile the convention conent lon it must be that tile the burgers did a good job they organ ayed a provisional central government they tin sequestered all public c a and 1 1 d court coun ty taxes and till all quit rents t to 0 t the 1 ie crown alli declared loc lared traitors nii all persons who should choll I 1 1 11 in 0 apt pt blew m commissions from ter the lie cron or exercise old commissions and they the formed nine military com panics for action when hen the time should come me curiously curious enough tills meek mecklenburg lenburg declaration did not become generally knon till 1810 1819 forty forti tour four years litter later and then through publication in the It aleigh register its publication caused an all enormous stir and begin began a controversy that may be said t to 0 bo be yet et going on Inn inasmuch as some lils still refuse to accept the gen u oneness of the document in 1819 1810 jefferson and john adams were both old and testy adams said in so many words that jefferson evidently and plagiarizer plagiarised jefferson angrily retort ell ed that in tits his belief the document was spurious the controversy over tile the genuineness I 1 ne of the mecklenburg declaration immediately became fast and furious north carolina finally took a hand in it find aind in 1831 its legislature appointed a committee of investigation this committee reported that the document was genuine accordingly may was made a state holiday which Is celebrated as tile the anniversary of the signing of the mecklenburg declaration lar la in Is 8 8 in Cli charlotte arlotte was waa dedicated a monument in commemoration of tile the signing of the mecklenburg declaration the liNto historians thins have been ahny nil all these years arid little by little the case of the lias has been built up tip until now it Is generally gene nilly accepted the contract of government signed in 1020 lit in tile the cabin of the mayflower in fit massachusetts ilay hay mily may be said it ill a t rise to be the first declaration 0 independence out of which grew mi itt declaration of ind in it pande llad of nf 1779 1770 |
