A history of the United States . offered a resohitionthat these united colonies are and ought to be independent states, and they are absolvedfrom all allegiance to theBritish crown. The resolu-tion was vigorously opposedby Dickinson of Pennsyl-vania and Livingston ofNew York, partly on theground that a sufficient timehad not yet elapsed for ananswer from the king, andpartly because the individ-ual colonies had not yetauthorized such action. Butthe colonies did not longhesitate. Most of them hadalready erected independentgovernments of their early as July, 1775, Massachusetts had formed
A history of the United States . offered a resohitionthat these united colonies are and ought to be independent states, and they are absolvedfrom all allegiance to theBritish crown. The resolu-tion was vigorously opposedby Dickinson of Pennsyl-vania and Livingston ofNew York, partly on theground that a sufficient timehad not yet elapsed for ananswer from the king, andpartly because the individ-ual colonies had not yetauthorized such action. Butthe colonies did not longhesitate. Most of them hadalready erected independentgovernments of their early as July, 1775, Massachusetts had formed a govern-ment in which the kings authority was practically set aside,and James Bowdoin was made chief executive officer and JohnAdams chief justice. Before July, 1776, all the other provinces,with the exception of New York, had taken similar measures,and more than two thirds of them had voted for independenceand had instructed their delegates to vote for Lees resolution was accordingly adopted by Congress on the. Richard Henry Lee. 1 Born, 1732; died, 1794. Educated in England; was a leader of the VirginiaHouse of Burgesses, 1761 to 1788; opposed the slave trade and the Stamp Act;was one of the first to suggest the famous committees of correspondence; wason the committee to draft the address of the First Continental Congress;drafted the address of the Second Congress; moved the Resolution of Inde-pendence ; was very earnest in his opposition to the adoption of the FederalConstitution in 1788; was a prominent Anti-Federalist and United Statessenator, 1789 to 1792. 164] THE DECLARATION OP INDEPENDENCE. 123 2d of July. A committee, with Thomas Jefferson* as chair-man, had been appointed in June to draw up a formal declara-tion in case independence should be agreed upon. Jefferson,then only thirty-three years ofage, wrote thepaper which, afterslight modifica-tions by Frank-lin and Adams,was adopted asthe Declarationof Independence,on the 4th ofJuly, 1776. Thisimmort
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