WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and 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, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Signed by ORDER and in BEHALF of the CONGRESS,
JOHN HANCOCK, PRESIDENT.
ATTEST.
CHARLES THOMSON, SECRETARY.
A Note on the Author
John Ferling is professor emeritus of history at the University of West Georgia. A leading authority on American Revolutionary history, he is the author of ten books, including Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800; The First of Men: A Life of George Washington; the award-winning A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic, and the bestselling Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. His most recent work, The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon, was named one of the best books of 2009 by the Washington Post. He and his wife, Carol, live in metropolitan Atlanta.
By the Same Author
The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon
Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence
Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution
The First of Men: A Life of George Washington
Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800
John Adams: A Life
Struggle for a Continent: The Wars of Early America
A Wilderness of Miseries: War and Warriors in Early America
The Loyalist Mind: Joseph Galloway and the American Revolution
Copyright © 2011 by John Ferling
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Bloomsbury Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Ferling, John E.
Independence : the struggle to set America free / John Ferling. — 1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-1-60819-008-9 (hardcover)
1. United States—Politics and government—To 1775. 2. United States—History—Colonial period, ca. 1600–1775. 3. United States—Politics and government—1775–1783. 4. United States—Politics and government—Philosophy. 5. Statesmen—United States—History—18th century. 6. Great Britain—Politics and government—1760–1789. [1. United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Causes.] I. Title.
E210.F45 2011
973.3—dc22
First published in the United States by Bloomsbury Press in 2011
This e-book edition published in 2011
E-book ISBN: 978-1-60819-380-6
www.bloomsburypress.com