Declaration of Independence

Background

In July 1776, the 13 colonies had been at war with Great Britain for over a year. Since the conclusion of the French and Indian War in 1763, Britain had been looking for ways to reduce debts incurred as a result of that war and the other ancillary costs associated with governing the colonies. As a result, the British parliament had passed a series of statutes designed to increase revenue, including the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767. Whereas the Stamp Act, which required printed materials to be produced on stamped paper, had proven unpopular, the Townshend Acts were especially unpopular. The Townshend Acts were intended in part to be punitive, as a way of punishing New York for failure to comply with the earlier Quartering Act (that outlined locations and conditions in which British soldiers were to find room and board in the American colonies), and asserted that Britain had the right to tax the colonies. A great many acts of resistance occurred as a result of taxes imposed by Townshend Acts, including actions that led to the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. The British held that because Parliament was the supreme authority in the nation, anything that body did was constitutional. This included the right to assess taxes, especially those used to cover expenses generated by the individuals being taxed.

Members of the Continental Congress who met in Philadelphia in July 1776 had different views regarding taxation. Since the colonists did not have the ability to elect members of Parliament, some argued that this body had no authority over the colonies. American political theorists, such as Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson, maintained that Parliament served only as the legislative body [Page 675]of Great Britain, and that the colonies, with their own legislatures, had the right to self-governance, which the British were trying to abrogate. Patriots such as John Adams had argued for independence from Britain as early as February 1776. Problems existed for those favoring independence insofar as the delegations to the Continental Congress only possessed authority consistent with their instructions from each colony's legislature—as advocates for independence grew more vocal, they had these instructions revised to give the Congress increased authority. John Adams had drafted a “preamble” advocating suppression of authority of the Crown. On June 11, 1776, Congress appointed a Committee of Five, comprised of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson, to draft a declaration of the colonies’ independence from Britain. At Adams's urging, Jefferson agreed to draft the document.

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