Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is a document that was created and signed to announce the 13 American Colonies were declaring their freedom from England and British rule. Once the Colonies gained their freedom they joined together to become and independent union and called in the United States of America. You can order a custom research paper on the Declaration Of Independence from Paper Masters.

England was in debt at the end of the Seven Years War. In order to help pay off the debt, England began taxing products in America. England taxed items such as tea, paper, and stamps. Colonists were angered by the changes in taxation without their ability to have representation in Parliament.

The Committee of Five

The Revolutionary War began on April 19th 1775. In May of 1776, a representative group John Adams wrote a preamble that explained that King George had no plans to reconcile relations between England the American Colonies and had plans to use foreign powers to gain control over the colonies. On June 11, 1776 the "Committee of Five" was established to write a formal declaration of independence. This committee was made up of:

• John Adams from Massachusetts
• Thomas Jefferson from Virginia
• Robert R. Livingston from New York
• Roger Sherman from Connecticut
• Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania

The committee completed their charge and presented the completed declaration to congress on June 28th. Congress tabled the declaration and spent two days editing the document.

July 4th 1776

On July 1st Congress began discussions and votes on the acceptance of the Declaration of Independence. Each colony was able to cast one vote. Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted not to declare independence. New York abstained from voting. The rest of the colonies voted for independence and then the issue was sent on to Congress for final approval. On July 2nd, South Carolina changed its vote in favor of independence and Pennsylvania abstained from voting. This made it possible for the resolution to pass. Over the next few days, Congress edited the final document. On July 4th 1776, the document received final approval and was sent to be printed.