July 4 - The American Declaration of Independence

This Day in History: 4 July 2020

 

4 July 1776

 

244 years ago, today, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain and its king. Most colonists had been quietly accepting British rule until Parliament's enactment of the 1773 Tea Act, designed to save the faltering East India Company by lowering its tea tax and granting it a monopoly on the American tea trade. This was viewed by colonists as an example of taxation tyranny, inspiring the Boston Tea Party, where British tea was dumped into the Boston harbour, outraging the British Parliament.

 

Britain subsequently enacted the Coercive Acts, closing Boston off from merchant shipping and establishing formal British military rule in Massachusetts. A united American resistance was formed in response, creating a shadow revolutionary government and establishing militias to resist the increasing British presence. In April 1775, the first shots of the American Revolution were fired when the two sides met. Both the Americans and the British saw this emerging conflict as a civil war within the British Empire, but to King George III, it was a colonial rebellion. In July 1776, the Continental Congress voted to approve a Virginia motion that would call for separation from Britain. Two days later, on this day, the declaration was formally adopted by 12 colonies. However, the Revolutionary War would continue for five more years, before the final victory in 1781 and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, transforming the United States into a free and independent nation.

 

Want to find out more about the American Declaration of Independence? Click here for more information, or here for facts you might not know about the declaration. Alternatively, click here for more about the possibly controversial illegality of the document.