The Declaration of Independence begins “In Congress July 4, 1776…The unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America…When in the course of human events…”. Sometimes we overlook how Ununited the 13 colonies were in the time leading up to the Declaration.
Here are some events which drew the colonies together.
The Stamp Act of 1765 was an aborted attempt to raise revenue from the American colonies to pay off debt accumulated during the Seven Years War (also known as the French and Indian War.) Within six months, the Stamp Act was repealed.
The Tea Act of 1773 lit the fuse that blew up the British rule in America. A tax on tea was infuriating to the people of the American colonies. On December 16, 1773, three merchant vessels were attacked in Boston Harbor, and their tea cargo dumped into the water. Other confrontations with tea carrying vessels occurred in Philadelphia, New York, and Charleston.
In March 1774, the British Parliament passed an act closing the port of Boston to all commerce. King George III sent two regiments of British soldiers to Boston to quell talk of American independence.
In the early 1770s a network formed to circulate news from one colony to the others. Not the internet, not podcasts, and not the nightly news. Letters, hundreds of letters and sometimes newspaper clippings were being discreetly passed around.
In 1773, the news that ships were departing England carrying tea was communicated to people in the American colonies. Citizen lookouts at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston watched for the arrival of the tea ships. At New York and Philadelphia, local citizens told captains not to enter the harbor, but to return to England with all their tea.
In 1772, the British occupation of Boston was news that Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty passed on to other colonies. Once the Boston Committee of Correspondence was formed, letters were sent out.
The Boston Committee appealed to other colonies to show unity of purpose in excluding British imports. Committees were started everywhere in 1774.
Gloucester County formed a Committee of Correspondence with Woolwich residents Jacob Spicer, George Van Leer, James Talman, William Guest and Robert Brown, and Greenwich residents Dr. Bodo Otto, Daniel Cozens, Solomon Lippincott, and Jonathan Fisher.
A convention of the Committees of Correspondence within New Jersey met in May 1774 in New Brunswick. This convention urged the collection of donations for the aid of Boston.
More importantly, this convention authorized the selection of delegates to represent the colony at the First Continental Congress.
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. The potentially treasonous activities were known to New Jersey Royal Governor William Franklin, son of the esteemed patriot Benjamin Franklin. Individuals representing New Jersey at Congress, included future governor William Livingston, Stephen Crane, John DeHart, James Kinsey, and Richard Smith.
Notable here is agreement of the colonies to discuss grievances against the British government, and the beginning of representative selection in New Jersey by the people of New Jersey. Although the meetings of that Congress only lasted about six weeks, significant recommendations were returned to each colony.
Each colony was to establish a militia, and to embargo all trade with Great Britain. The Congress also sent a petition to King George III asking for him to redress their grievances resulting from Acts of the King as well as Acts of Parliament. King George refused to hear the details of the petition.
The closing of the port of Boston created hardships for citizens of the Boston area. Men who were ship captains, ship crews, dockworkers, and teamsters were all deprived of their livelihoods. No manufactured goods were imported from England. Food could not be shipped to Boston merchants. There was a great feeling of sympathy along the East Coast, and committees responded by sending money to give relief to Boston residents. Before the end of the year 1775, the Gloucester County Relief Committee sent $534 to aid the poor of Boston.
In June 1776, the newly organized New Jersey Provincial Congress met and appointed five new delegates to represent the state at the Second Continental Congress. July 1776 was a very busy month of organizational activity.
Not only was the Declaration of Independence approved on July 4, 1776. The New Jersey Royal Governor William Franklin was arrested. The colony of Virginia sent correspondence to the other colonies in 1776 proposing to adopt new state constitutions. The State of New Jersey adopted its first constitution of government on July 2, 1776. William Livingston became the first governor of New Jersey under the new constitution in August 1776.
The Declaration of Independence is a remarkable document for the ideals that are set forth for our citizenship and our representative government. It also is remarkable for the concept of unity in these United States of America.
But that one major document rested on hundreds of ideas and letters shared between individuals from Maine to Georgia, that made a strong argument for the common cause of Liberty and Independence.
by Russell Shiveler, Swedesboro Woolwich Historical Society
