Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1897-07-03
ANE0DOTAL LITERATURE.
Gathered and Compiled for:the In
dependent by W. 6.

The compiler, approaching the
untold blessing resulting from the
passing Of the Declaration of Inde-
pendenee on the 4th of July, 1776,
regards it as appropriate to furnish
the following, so near the anniver
sary of that great event
HISTORY OF THE DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE.
1t was justice and reconciliation,
rather than independence that the
colonies desired under British OPP
preston but when that could not
be obtained, Declaration of Inde-
pendence necessarily followed. In
deed no private letters have yet
been found written before l7T6, in
which the idea of independence is
ever alluded to. In England, how.
ever, the matter was agitated as
early as TIA, and Col. Cartwright
and others wrote pamphlet entit-
led american Independence" urg.
ing Parliament to declare the colo
MES free. Dean Tucker also earnest
ly contested in the same spirit. 1t
is said, however, that DR.. Franklin
was anxious that the colonies should
take stand for independence as
early as l774 but even the Con-
tinental Congress was rather for
reconciliation and Mr.. Jay, John
Adams, Jefferson, Madison and
Washington, all declared that the
colonies did not desire independence.
But subsequent events and further
oppression reused them to a holder
stand.
On the 4th of June, 1775, General
Green, in letter to a friend, recon-
mended the immediate declaration
of independence, and as soon as the
news Of the battle OF Lexington
reached Mechlinburg county, N. c.,
the authorities called convention
of the inhabitants, at which resolu-
tons were drawn up and signed by
q, declaring that "these colonies
are, and of right ought TO be free
and independent"
But the first Legislative move.
ment for independence, was made in
the Legislature of North Carolina,
April It'll, l776. About a month
afterwards. Virginia backed the
measure in more tangible shape,
and to her properly belongs the i'm
mortal honor Of having made the
first decisive step towards freedom
in its most extensive sense.
In Congress, the following June,
Richard Henry Lee moved that
Congress declare the colonies
free and independent. The matter
was postponed ; but, in the mean
time, committee was appointed to
draft declaration, of which Mr..
Jefferson was chairman. On the 9Th
and 10th of June, the subject was
again taken up and again dropped.
On the 28th of June, Mr.. Jefferson
reported his draft, and on the first
OF July the celebrated Virginia
resolutions were passed. About one
fourth of the original draft was
stricken out, and, as amended, it
was passed by a unanimous vote,
with single exceptions
On the 4th of July, 1776, the
colonies were solemnly declared free
and independent, and after being
signed, a copy was sent to each of
the colonies to be read publicly to
the people. The readirg was gen.
! orally accompanied with the ringing
Of bells and firing of cannon. The
Continental Army was then in New
York, and Washington ordered the
declaration to be read on parade,
where it was received with marked
enthusiasm and demonstrations oil
appreciation.
On the Cd Of August, the Declare.
ton was engrossed in parchment
and signed, which copy is in the De-
partment of State, and from which
the common fac-similes are taken.
1t seemed to have been specially
ordered by Providence that the
Declaration should be made just at
the time it was, for few days after
British Commissioners arrived with
offers of reconciliation, and, had the
measure been delayed, it is impossi.
BILE to tell what might have been the
result.
No one indeed, who closely re,
marks the history Of the American
Revolution, can fail to trace the fin.
ger of Providence in its most i'm.
portant events.
The exception was Mr.. Dicken.
son of Pennsylvania, who (strange
as it may appear, had perhaps con.
tributed as much to the Declaration
as any man, and was afterwards a
warm and efficient advocate of the