The Real Reason for the Declaration of Independence
From History News Network
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On a warm summer’s day in Philadelphia in 1776, early in the throes of American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson wrestled with the opening sentences of a document to King Louis XVI of France and King Carlos III of Spain, that would bring much-needed help to the embattled American colonies. The colonies had been at war with Britain for over a year now, and the military situation was dire. Without the direct intervention of Britain’s adversaries, France and Spain, on America’s side, the colonies could not hope to prevail against the superior British army and navy.
The Colonists already had decided to break free from British rule. Stung by the battles at Lexington and Concord, and convinced that the ongoing war had irrevocably separated America from Britain, the colonial governments sent their delegates to the Continental Congress with instructions “immediately to cast off the British yoke” and “to concur with the delegates of the other Colonies in declaring Independency.” However, the American nation had begun its armed struggle against British rule stunningly incapable of fending for itself, like a rebellious adolescent who takes leave of his family without a penny to his name. It had no navy, little in the way of artillery, and a ragtag army and militia that were bereft of even the most basic ingredient of modern warfare: gunpowder. Soon after the Battle of Bunker Hill, Benjamin Franklin noted that “the Army had not five rounds of powder a man. The world wondered that we so seldom fired a cannon; we could not afford it.” America, in short, desperately needed to bring France and Spain into the conflict.
- See more at: http://historynewsnetwork.org/article...
http://historynewsnetwork.org/
On a warm summer’s day in Philadelphia in 1776, early in the throes of American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson wrestled with the opening sentences of a document to King Louis XVI of France and King Carlos III of Spain, that would bring much-needed help to the embattled American colonies. The colonies had been at war with Britain for over a year now, and the military situation was dire. Without the direct intervention of Britain’s adversaries, France and Spain, on America’s side, the colonies could not hope to prevail against the superior British army and navy.
The Colonists already had decided to break free from British rule. Stung by the battles at Lexington and Concord, and convinced that the ongoing war had irrevocably separated America from Britain, the colonial governments sent their delegates to the Continental Congress with instructions “immediately to cast off the British yoke” and “to concur with the delegates of the other Colonies in declaring Independency.” However, the American nation had begun its armed struggle against British rule stunningly incapable of fending for itself, like a rebellious adolescent who takes leave of his family without a penny to his name. It had no navy, little in the way of artillery, and a ragtag army and militia that were bereft of even the most basic ingredient of modern warfare: gunpowder. Soon after the Battle of Bunker Hill, Benjamin Franklin noted that “the Army had not five rounds of powder a man. The world wondered that we so seldom fired a cannon; we could not afford it.” America, in short, desperately needed to bring France and Spain into the conflict.
- See more at: http://historynewsnetwork.org/article...
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