Declaring independence
No single act in world history had the miraculous impact of the American Revolution. Although only directly pertaining to two political bodies, the empire of Great Britain and the British American Colonies, the chain of events that the American Revolution sparked changed the world forever.
Never before had a large communion of dependent colonies of a foreign power, come together to achieve the seemingly impossible dream of unified independence. Through extensive deliberation and debate, 53 men came to the conclusion that American Independence from Great Britain was no longer a want; but was now a necessity. It is these 53 men, all having different feelings, opinions, and convictions, which forged the first successful separation of a child nation from that of its mother.
Although alliances and anti-alliances formed along the way, these men accomplished what was thought to be impossible. The diversity among the delegates to the Second Continental Congress directly affected the method in which dependent ties with the empire of Great Britain were handled.
In the United States today, the media provides the ordinary citizen with information concerning conflicts in far off lands. Due to the poor speed with which news traveled, this was not the case in 1776. For this reason, one’s view was not decided by knowledge of the entire world. More so, the decision would be based on the circumstances of one’s particular region. This is the explanation why in Massachusetts, “On 16 December 1773, a group of Bostonians, disguised as Indians, boarded three vessels and threw the cargo of tea into the harbor.” (Hamowy 198).
The Term Paper on American Involvment in World War I
This investigation assesses American involvement in World War I before military intervention, and how this led to military intervention. In order to assess these causes, one must examine America’s involvement in the war before combat, the events that launched America’s military intervention in the war, American sentiments about the war before military intervention, and Woodrow Wilson’s actions ...
The Bostonians did this action out of protest to the tyranny that they felt the government of Great Britain was subjecting them to.
Other colonies did not hold this same view. The colony of South Carolina held a rather different view of the British Government. Although they felt sympathy for Massachusetts, they personally had not experienced such “tyranny.” It is for this reason that South Carolina remained neutral on the issue of Independence until late in the debates. Of course, states like Maryland held the opinion that independence was their right; however, achieving it by force was suicidal. If this disagreement between colonies wasn’t bad enough, conflict arose within the colonies themselves.
Luckily for the supporters of independence, Delaware had the necessary majority of 2-1 in favor of independence. Of course, that is with all three men present. Unfortunately, Caesar Rodney, plagued with cancer for the later portion of his life, was so gravely ill that he returned to Delaware due to poor health and to put down a Tory uprising in the lowest of Delaware’s counties, Sussex. When Congressional President John Hancock ruled in favor of a motion by John Dickinson that all colonies must be unanimous in its vote for Independence, Thomas McKean, realizing that Delaware would have to abstain due to a tie between his vote for independence and Read’s vote against, went to Delaware to retrieve Rodney. Although Rodney barely survived the trip, his “yea” vote saved the Delaware Delegation, and in the long run, saved the Independence movement.
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, after months of debate and revisions, adopted Virginia Delegate Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration. Within two years, all 53 men in the room had signed but one, John Dickinson.
The task these men had set before them was dangerous and unfair. These 53 men felt that their families, friends and fellow American Colonists were worth these risks. Although each man came from a different background, different regional location and had different beliefs, they came together to achieve a better life for Americans. For as Dr. Benjamin Franklin put it best, “We are men: no more, no less.” (Morison155)
The Essay on Of Mice And Men The American Dream Is Presented As A Sad Illusion
Steinbecks novel presents the American Dream as a sad illusion. Discuss. Of Mice and Men is one of the most powerful and symbolic books of its era. It is, as Steinbeck put it, a study of the dreams and pleasures of everybody in the world, examining many different aspects of human existence. A theme central to this novel is the idea of the American Dream, and of its failure as a realistic ...
Works Cited
Hamowy, Ronald. “The Declaration of Independence.” The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. eds. Jack P. Greene and J.R. Pole. 1991.
Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Oxford History of the American People. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965.
