Battle Joined

Creating the Declaration of Independence | Creating the United States Constitution | Creating the Bill of Rights

Revolution of the Mind | Battle Joined | Founded on a Set of Beliefs | Peace

On April 19, 1775, Great Britain’s “Bloody Butchery” at Concord and Lexington opened an eight-year war for political independence and representative republican government in America. Despite facing Europe’s greatest military power, Americans found, in the words of George Washington, that “Perseverance and Spirit could work wonders” on the battlefield and in the diplomatic theater.

While creating national military forces and a confederated government, Americans won notable victories in battles at Boston, Saratoga, Trenton, Princeton, Cowpens, and Yorktown. Although both sides suffered the many horrific aspects of eighteenth-century warfare, America’s critical military victories and her determined diplomacy won her independence and a western empire in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

James Otis. The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved. Boston: Edes and Gill, 1764. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (6)
[Digital ID# us0006]

The Declaration and Slavery

The incongruity of arguing for their own freedom and liberty while enslaving others was openly discussed by American revolutionaries during the period leading up to the writing of the Declaration of Independence and beyond.

In his most famous pamphlet, The Rights of British Colonists Asserted and Proved, James Otis (1725—1783) characterized the slave trade as “the most shocking violation of the law of nature.” He also stated that “It is a clear truth, that those who every day barter away other men's liberty will soon care little for their own.”

Paul Revere. The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt. Engraving with watercolor. Boston, 1770. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (11)
[Digital ID# ppmsca-01657]

A Push Toward Rebellion

In this highly sensational depiction by Paul Revere (1735—1818), a leading member of the Sons of Liberty, British troops acting under the orders of a British officer fire on unarmed citizens and sailors who were taunting them in Boston on March 5, 1770.

The five Americans, including Crispus Attucks—a runaway African-American slave turned sailor—died. The Boston Massacre became a symbol of British tyranny and an important stepping stone on the road to rebellion.

Reports of Cases Determined in the General Court of Virginia. . . . Charlottesville, Virginia: F. Carr, 1829. Law Library, Library of Congress (12)
[Digital ID# us00012 — us0012_1]

Jefferson Argues to Free Slaves

Thomas Jefferson unsuccessfully argued that a black slave should be free because his grandmother had been a white woman and “under the law of nature, all men are born free.” Samuel Howell v. Netherland, April 20, 1770, was one of two legal suits for freedom by Virginia slaves of mixed race in which Jefferson acted as attorney for the plaintiffs in their freedom suits.

Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Anthony Benezet, August 22, 1772. Manuscript. Benjamin Franklin Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (13)
[Digital ID# us0013]

Franklin on Slavery

Despite having taken two personal black slaves with him to England in 1757, Benjamin Franklin became an eager supporter and corresponded with Anthony Benezet (1713—1784), the Philadelphia Quaker abolitionist and educator of free black children. In this letter to Benezet, Franklin denounces, “The Hypocrisy of this Country which encourages such a detestable Commerce.”

Benjamin Rush. Address to the Inhabitants of the British Settlement in America upon Slave-keeping. Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1773. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (14)
[Digital ID# us0014]

Call for the Abolition of Slavery

In 1773, Dr. Benjamin Rush (1746—1813), a Philadelphia physician and revolutionary, wrote this pamphlet denouncing slavery and the slave trade. The next year, Rush was among the founders of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery.

Mercy Otis Warren. The Adulateur. A Tragedy. . . . Boston: New Printing Office, 1773. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (15)
[Digital ID# us0015 — us0015_1]

American Drama Promotes Revolutionary Cause

The American revolutionary cause was promoted by imaginative dramas written by Mercy Otis Warren (1728—1814), the most prominent American woman writer and playwright of the revolutionary era. The Adulateur was a three-act play depicting the struggle as a conflict between the villain Repatio (Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson) and Brutus (Mercy’s brother and radical pamphleteer James Otis).

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Jean Nicolas Démeunier, January 24, 1786. Manuscript. Thomas Jefferson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (16)
[Digital ID# us0016]

Contradiction between Liberty and Slavery

In this letter to French politician and author Jean Nicolas Démeunier (1751—1814), Thomas Jefferson expressed the central contradiction of the American Revolution’s claims of freedom and liberty: “What a stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is Man!” He will risk death for his own liberty yet “inflict on his fellow man a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with more misery than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose.”

Charles Willson Peale, painter and engraver. His Excel: G. Washington Esq. L.L.D., Late commander in chief of the armies of the U.S. of America and President of the Convention of 1787. Mezzotint engraving, 1787. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (21)
[Digital ID# ppmsca-17515]

George Washington, Commander in Chief

George Washington (1732—1799), a Virginia planter and veteran of America’s frontier wars, was revolutionary America’s only commander of all military forces throughout the eight-year war for independence. His leadership during the Revolution led to his election as the first president of the United States (1789—1797). Here Washington is depicted in uniform by noted artist Charles Willson Peale (1741—1827).

The Honble. John Hancock of Boston in New-England, President of the American Congress — done from an original picture painted by Littleford. London: C. Shepherd, 1775. Mezzotint from a portrait by R. Purcell, alias C. Corbutt, alias Littleford. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (24)
[Digital ID# ppmsca-17519]

John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress

John Hancock (1737—1793), a wealthy Massachusetts merchant and revolutionary leader, played an instrumental role during the founding of the United States. He served as president of the Continental Congress between 1775 and 1777 and was later elected to two non-consecutive terms as governor of Massachusetts.

Hancock is best known for his large and flamboyant signature on the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson. Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence, June–July 1776. Manuscript. Thomas Jefferson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (34)
[Digital ID# us0034tt_1 — us0034tt_4]

Declaration of Independence Rough Draft

The Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and heavily amended by the Continental Congress, boldly asserted humanity's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as well as the American colonies' right to revolt against an oppressive British government.

Jefferson's "original Rough draught" illustrates Jefferson's literary flair and records key changes made by Benjamin Franklin; John Adams, and the Continental Congress before its July 4, 1776 adoption.

Letter from John Hancock to George Washington, July 6, 1776. Manuscript letter in the hand of Jacob Rush and signed by John Hancock. George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (35)
[Digital ID# us0035 – us0035_1]

Washington Receives News of Independence

“Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve the connection between Great Britain and the American Colonies.” With these calm and deliberate words, John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, informed General George Washington that Congress had adopted the Declaration of Independence. Hancock enclosed a copy of the first printing of the Declaration with the request that Washington “will have it proclaimed at the Head of the Army.”

Thomas Jefferson. Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia: John Dunlap, July 4, 1776. George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (36)
[Digital ID# us0036_1]

First Printed Version of Declaration of Independence

Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and directed that it be printed by John Dunlap. This only surviving fragment of the Declaration broadside printed by Dunlap was sent on July 6, 1776, to George Washington by John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. General Washington had this Declaration read to his assembled troops on July 9 in New York, where they awaited the combined British fleet and army.

La Destruction de la statue royale a Nouvelle Yorck, Die zerstorung der konglichen bild saule zu Neu Yorck. Hand-colored etching. Paris: Chez Basset, ca. 1776. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (37)
[Digital ID# ppmsca-17521]

Americans Destroy a Statue of King George III

On July 9, 1776, after the Declaration of Independence was read to the American army in New York City and celebratory toasts were made, the soldiers rushed to the foot of Broadway at the Bowling Green.

As depicted in this engraving, they had the assistance of free blacks or slaves in pulling down the statue of King George III. The lead statue was later hauled to Connecticut, where it was transformed into bullets and guns.

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