War Begins

The war between the colonists and British troops began with battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. In Lexington British soldiers fired at a band of 70 Minutemen (colonial militia), who gathered to express their protest. In Concord, where the contingents of militia were larger, British troops (colonists called them "redcoats") suffered greater losses – colonial militiamen were attacking them from behind the trees, bushes, and houses along the road.

These battles marked the beginning of American War for Independence, which was supported by the delegates of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in May, 1775. Congressmen voted for war, authorized the printing of money to purchase necessary goods, established a committee to supervize relations with foreign countries, and took steps to strengthen the militia. Also the most important task was accomplished – the Continental Army was created and Colonel George Washington of Virginia was appointed its commander-in-chief.

The leaders of the Revolution had three important tasks to accomplish:

• to persuade colonists to take side of the patriot fighters for American independence;

• to get international recognition and the assistance of France, which was crucial to the winning of independence;

– to try not to lose battles with the British army decisively. George Washington – commander-in-chief of the American army,

quickly realized that American success will be much a result of their endurance than of superiority.

The British, in their turn, were sure that American army would not be able to fight with the trained British soldiers, so the campaign of 1776 would be the first and the last of the war. The British also tended to compare this war with what they had fought successfully in Europe, so they adopted the same strategy of capturing major American cities.

But British strategy proved false – American population was dispersed, and only 5'% of colonists lived in the major cities. Capturing of these cities did not mean immediate victory, and, moreover, military victory did not mean political victory. The British could not realize that it was not a convential European war; it was a new kind of conflict – the first modern war of national liberation.

Declaration of Independence

Long months after fighting with Britain had begun, American leaders did not try to break with the empire. The decisive step to independence was made by Thomas Paine, who published a pamphlet "Common Sense" in January 1776. In his work Paine criticized common American assumptions about government and the colonies' relationship to England. He proved that the establishing of a republic was necessary, democracy was the only way to preserve freedom, and rejected the balance of monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. Paine insisted that Britain was exploiting the colonies unmercifully and rejected the assertion that an independent America would be weak and divided – he proved that America's strength would grow when freed from European control.

The pamphlet got enormous popularity, converting many colonists to independence – by late spring 1776 it was inevitable. On May 10,1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted a resolution calling for separation, and in June a committee of five, headed by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, was appointed to prepare a formal declaration.

The Declaration became mainly Jefferson's work, who was a Virginian lawyer educated at the college of William and Mary. Declaration of Independence was based on English Enlightment political philosophy, particularly on John Locke's "Second Treatise in Government", where traditional rights of Englishmen were universalized into the natural rights of all humankind.

The draft of Declaration was laid before Congress on June 28; congressmen debated the wording for some more days, and adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The delegates knew that they were committing treason. Now they had to win the war otherwise they would have been executed. As Benjamin Franklin put it, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately". The real struggle still lay before them.

Cultural Note: Signing the Declaration of Independence

Although the Declaration of Independence was adopted and printed on July 4, it was immediately signed only by the President of the Continental Congress, John Hancock, and its secretary, Charles Thomson. Hancock boldly put his big signature noting: "There! I guess King George will be able to read that!"

Most of the other delegates signed the Declaration on August 2 ceremony, and one of the delegates, Thomas McKean of Delaware signed it only in 1781. Signers were so afraid of their fate that the names of those who signed the Declaration weren't made public until 1777.

The name of John Hancock, however, survived not only in history, but also can be often heard in the popular expression "Put you Hancock here", used to ask people to sign the documents.

Task 3. Study the Declaration of Independence (see Appendix 1) and answer the following questions:

1. What were the abuses that the colonists had suffered from Great Britain and British King?

2. What are the main human rights listed in the Declaration?

3. Who gave these rights to people?

4. What institution guarantees these rights?