Warren sheaf., 1903-07-09
T|HE republic of the United States
may be said to date from the adop-
ton of the Declaration of Independ-

T|HE republic of the United States
may be said to date from the adop-
ton of the Declaration of Independ-
ence. Until this time the l3 strug.
Cling colonies, rent and torn by internal
jealousies, without clearly recognized
leader and having no treasury or mint,
scarcely knew what they desired of the
mother country.
A very obstinate king and a decidedly
shortsighted prime minister denied the
very reasonable demands made by the
patriots. Two or three battles had been
fought between the royalists and revolu-
tionary troops, but very strong and Pa
fuential party within the colonies still be-
lieved that all differences might be har-
moniously adjusted and that the former
status could be restored. In the number of
representatives in the congress at Philadel-
phia were several members who had hoped
for change of heart in George III.
The declaration, when adopted, changed
everything. AS soon as it became the unani-
nous expression of the representatives of
the people, who had full powers to act for
their constituents, not a doubt was left
in the minds of any. It was understood
Hhenceforth that the war was to be one
of subjugation, or that it should end in the
auueptuueuCe VI lNe ColOuleS
The subsequent events were secondary
to this great and heroic action on the part
of the congress- The, articles, of confedera-
ton, the adoption of the federal consti-
tuition and the election of an executive head
were necessary and logical results of the
casting off of allegiance to Great Britain.
The leaders in the movement, Adams,
Franklin, Jefferson, Hancock and the 9TH
ers, understood fully the gravity of the act
They knew that from the standpoint of
the crown every representative who signed
that document was guilty of treason and
might be hanged for the offense. They
knew that in the day of the adoption of
the Declaration of Independence a nation
was born, or that humiliation and degra-
dation would be the lot of the participants
in it.
These brave men did not act hastily.
They had counted the cost. They had no
precedent for action, and no encourage
ment of success from the pages of history.
Similar struggles for release from typranny
usually had resulted in the forging of heav-
ier chains. They lacked harmony in do
,mestic affairs; they needed money, cloth
ling for their troops and money to pay them
their due. In effect they had no capital ex-
cept sense of the Righteousness of their
cause and an abiding faith in the loyalty of
the colonists to the cause in which they had
engaged.
The words '1iberty," Independence"
and "free" must have sounded strange in
the ears of the people of Europe in that
day. In Great Britain the press was muz-
zled efectually. The common people of the
German states were scarcely more than
slaves; Russia was despotsm; Italy was
composed of a number of petty sovereign
ties, each vieing with the other in crush
ling out the liberties of its subjects; Spain
and Portugal had not heard the words be-
fore, save in derision. Poland was then
engaged in dying struggle against op-
pressors from without. France was in the
mire of ignorance and tyranny
Nowhere in all of the world could the
trainers and signers of the Declaration of
independence see the light of that liberty
which they sought to give to their people,
They were as people cropping in the dark
in a country that was strange to them. Yet
nowhere in this immortal document is there
suggestion of doubt or fear. The justice
of the cause is set forth in words that burn,
and the determination of it is left conf
IDENTIFY to the issues of battle.
The declaration is great light rising out
of infinite darkness. 1t was the first prom
use of rule of the people by the people,
where no tyranny might be found, and
where the highest distinction awaited the
worthiest, without reference to the acci-
dent of birth or the power of wealth. It