Introduction

One year after the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Second Continental Congress, which was impelled (as noted in chapter 5) by Thomas Paine's Common Sense, adopted the Declaration of Independence. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson the summer he was 33 years old, the Declaration "is one of the most celebrated documents in the nation's history." To support the Declaration, delegates pledged "to each other our Lives, our fortunes and our Sacred Honor." Affirming the principles that government originates in the consent of the governed and is grounded on the natural rights of all people, the document is so imbued with the spirit of John Locke and the writings of Scottish Enlightenment thinkers that Jefferson was once accused of plagiarism. But, what is the rest of the story? Would Americans, such as the citizen soldiers portrayed below, actually fight for independence?

Visit the National Archives, Jefferson's home (Monticello), and other websites, to experience the document's historical context and consider the Declaration of Independence in new ways. Additional links to materials that consider the social dynamics of the revolution and explore events in Revolutionary military history will help you answer the complex question, "Will they fight?"

Web Activities

1. Read the Declaration of Independence. The first part of the document serves notice that Americans no longer consider themselves English. The second section, directed against King George III, denies England any authority in the colonies and affirms the principle that government originates in the consent of the governed and is grounded on the natural rights of all people. Briefly summarize the contents of each section.

• What might the document have said but did not? What do you think Jefferson means by the phrase equality? 
• Go to Jefferson's "original Rough draught", scroll down to read the paragraph that begins "he has waged cruel war against human nature itself…" To whom does Jefferson refer? Why do you think these words were omitted from the final version? What evidence is there that Jefferson was aware of the contradiction between slavery and the ideas in the Declaration?
• Visit Jefferson's home, Monticello online. A good place to begin is the resources page which provides links to Jefferson quotations on a variety of subjects. See the Jefferson-Hemings resource pagefor the results of recent investigations. How does this information affect your thinking about the complex man and the extraordinary document he wrote? 

2. The Declaration of Independence was an act of revolution committing Americans to a rebellion for which the ultimate price of failure was hanging. How did the Continental Congress assemble the Continental Army, establish rules, and mobilize the public will? 

• Use the Library of Congress Organizing a Warsite to help you answer these questions. As you view all three links, note that one of the consequences of this activity will be learning to navigate the resources of the American Memory section of the Library of Congress web. In Congress makes rules for plundering enemy ships (and scroll down) when you click on "this document," an extensive list of documents will appear. You want document #1. Note the "Click here to see the full text of this document" instructions. 
• In Congress boosts public morale (and scroll down), whose help does congress enlist?
• Next go to Fanning the Flames of Patriotism and review links 2-4. Find and read the Manifesto, representing congressional response to British peace offers following the French Alliance, at Congress publicly threatens the British. What rhetorical style and revolutionary language does this document have in common with the Declaration of Independence?

3. The act of revolution also necessitated translating the will of rebel forces to fight against the armed forces of the British Empire, into the ability to do so. To answer the question, "Will they fight?", read pages 176-191 in your text and visit the following sites. While touring the sites keep in mind these questions, what were the psychological consequences of the Battles of Bunker Hill and Saratoga?  In what ways did Americans come to fight on their own terms?

• Explore The Decisive Day is come: the Battle of Bunker Hill an extensive site sponsored by The Massachusetts Historical Society. Read several of the contemporary accounts of the battle and the essay by Bernard Bailyn. 
• Read the article The Battle of the Brandywine by Edward G. Lengel (War Time Journal, illustrated, with sources). What were the specific difficulties Washington's Continental Army faced and the consequences of Brandywine? 
• Visit the sites of four battlefields of the War in a "staff ride" tutorial  from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. See especially the Battle of Saratoga. 
• Thomas Paine continued to serve the republican cause in a series of papers, The American Crisis composed between 1776 and 1783. Here, he too addressed the thorny question, "Will they fight?" Read the first three paragraphs, then scroll down and read the final one. What does Paine mean by his opening statement, "THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." 

Additional Research Links

War Chronologies and Battles on the Web

• The most comprehensive time line of the American Revolution from the perspective of the Commander in chief is with the George Washington papers at the Library of Congress. 
• See the Timeline of the American Revolution from the PBS series Liberty. 
• Lighting Freedom's Flame: National Park Service American Revolution Web Page marks the 225th anniversary of the events that brought about separation from Great Britain. The site has links to all major Park Service commemorations of Revolutionary War battlefields.

African and Native Americans in the Age of Revolution

• The PBS series Africans in America: Revolution, 1750-1805, examines America's journey through slavery. Go to Part 1 Narrative and explore the various links and resource bank that explain the compelling part story of the personal, religious, and legal challenges of African Americans of the era.
• The National Park Service site Valley Forge Encampment: Diversity of the Revolutionary Soldiers examines the role of African and Native Americans during the war. 
• An essay by Wilcomb E. Washburn, Indians and the American Revolution, further explores the consequences for Native Peoples. 

American Loyalists, British Moderates

• Go to Loyalists during the American Revolution for an online overview of contrasting views of American Loyalists.
• What is a Loyalist? (requires Adobe Reader   examines why some 50,000 loyalists went to the British North American Colonies of Quebec and Nova Scotia.
• The Nova Scotia Museum project: Remembering Black Loyalists, Black Communities provides information on the Black Loyalists  who settled first in Nova Scotia, then in 1791 made an Exodus to Sierra Leone. 
• One Member of Parliament who urged a moderate policy toward the American colonies was Edmund Burke. His "Speech on Conciliation with America" (1775) is an eloquent example of such rhetoric. 

The Revolutionary Experience

• To examine one aspect of women's experience during the revolutionary era read Abigail Adams  "Remember the Ladies" letter to John Adams 31 March 1776, and his response, John Adams to Abigail Adams 14 Apr. 1776. For another see Amazing Women in War and Peace which looks at several women who fought against the British. 
• See Religion and the American Revolution to understand how religion offered a moral sanction for opposition to the British. Divining America explores the topic further to help you order understand how religious faith drew many ordinary Americans into resistance to Britain and committed them to the cause of rebellion and republicanism. Sins of the Fathers: Religion and the Revolution is Edwin S. Gaustad's classic essay.
• For insight on the American Revolution from the British Perspective, return to the Was the American Revolution Inevitable? This site offers an assessment of this question primarily from the British perspective.

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The Revolution Becomes a Global War

• To learn more about the global perspective of the American Revolution visit PBS Global Village interactive map.
• Examine details of Benjamin Franklin's alliance negotiations with France and their consequences at Benjamin Franklin: A Documentary History (click on The Oldest Revolutionary and go to the individual pages for the years 1777-1783).