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hn dickinson deliberately abstaining on the vote for independence by not attending the session the remaining pennsylvania delegation voting yes for independence vi south carolina leader s son arthur middleton chose to ignore his absent and ailing father s loyalist wishes changing the colony s position to yes finally the caesar rodney who was summoned by fellow delegate thomas mckean vii arrived suffering from a serious facial cancer and afflicted with asthma after riding 80 miles through the rain and a lightening storm he broke delaware s 1 to 1 deadlock by casting the third vote for independence all 12 colonies except for ny whose delegates were not empowered to vote adopted the july 2 1776 resolution introduced by richard henry lee and john adams declaring independence from great britain richard henry lee s resolution courtesy of the national archives delegates who voted against or abstained on july 2 and or july 4 1776 george read de voted against but signed the declaration of independence on august 2 nd 1776 john alsop ny no authority to vote for independence was granted by new york hence abstained but resigned his seat in objection once ny approved independence george clinton ny no authority to vote for independence was granted by new york hence he abstained and left congress on july 8 1776 to serve in the military robert r livingston ny no authority to vote for independence was granted by new york hence he abstained despite serving on committee of five that drafted the declaration of independence henry wisner ny no authority to vote for independence was granted by new york but reportedly voted for the declaration of independence john dickinson pa abstained or absented himself feeling independence was premature but remained in congress drafting the articles of confederation charles humphreys pa voted against independence and was replaced as a pa delegate thomas willing pa voted against independence but would donate 5 000 to supply the revolutionary cause after the declaration of independence passed robert morris pa abstained or absented himself but signed the declaration on august 2 1776 eight men signed who weren t even elected to congress until after july 4 th 1776 but signed the declaration of independence include william williams ct charles carroll of carrollton md matthew thornton nh benjamin rush pa george clymer pa james smith pa george taylor pa george ross pa delegate thornton received permission to sign the declaration of independence even though he wasn t elected to the continental congress until september 1776 john adams would write 29 years later on this july 2 1776 debate the subject had been in contemplation for more than a year and frequent discussions had been had concerning it at one time and another all the arguments for it and against it had been exhausted and were become familiar i expected no more would be said in public but that the question would be put and decided mr dickinson however was determined to bear his testimony against it with more formality he had prepared himself apparently with great labour and ardent zeal and in a speech of great length and all his eloquence he combined together all that had before been written in pamphlets and news papers and all that had from time to time been said in congress by himself and others he conducted the debate not only with great ingenuity and eloquence but with equal politeness and candour and was answered in the same spirit no member rose to answer him and after waiting some in hopes that some one less obnoxious than myself who was still had been all along for a year before and still was represented and believed to be the author of all the mischief i determined to speak it has been said by some of our historians that i began by an invocation to the god of eloquence this is a misrepresentation nothing so puerile as this fell from me i began by saying that this was the first time of my life that i had ever wished for the talents and eloquence of the ancient orators of greece and rome for i was very sure that none of them ever had before him a question of more importance to his country and to the world they would probably upon less occasions than this have begun by solemn invocations to their divinities for assistance but the question before me appeared so simple that i had confidence enough in the plain understanding and common sense that had been given me to believe that i could answer to the satisfaction of the house all the arguments which had been produced notwithstanding the abilities which had been displayed and the eloquence with which they had been enforced mr dickinson some years afterwards published his speech i had made no preparation beforehand and never committed any minutes of mine to writing before the final question was put the new delegates from new jersey came in and mr stockton one of them dr witherspoon and mr hopkinson a very respectable characters expressed a great desire to hear the arguments all was silence no one would speak all eyes were turned upon me mr edward rutledge came to me and said laughing nobody will speak but you upon this subject you have all the topicks so ready that you must satisfy the gentlemen from new jersey i answered him laughing that it had so much the air of exhibiting like an actor or gladiator for the entertainment of the audience that i was ashamed to repeat what i had said twenty times before and i thought nothing new could be advanced by me the new jersey gentlemen however still insisting on hearing at least a recapitulation of the arguments and no other gentleman being willing to speak i summed up the reasons objections and answers in as concise a manner as i could till at length the jersey gentlemen said they were fully satisfied and ready for the question which was then put and determined in the affirmative viii john adams wrote abigail adams on july 3 1776 yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in america and a greater perhaps never was or will be decided among men a resolution was passed without one dissenting colony that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states and as such they have and of right ought to have full power to make war conclude peace establish commerce and to do all the other acts and things which other states may rightfully do you will see in a few days a declaration setting forth the causes which have impell d us to this mighty revolution and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of god and man a plan of confederation will be taken up in a few days on july 2 1776 the association known as united colonies of america officially became the united states of america ix students and teachers of us history this is a video of stanley and christopher klos presenting america s four united republics curriculum at the university of pennsylvania s wharton school the december 2015 video was an impromptu capture by a member of the audience of penn students professors and guests that numbered about 200 click here for more information consequently it was the date of july 2 1776 that john adams thought would be celebrated by future generations of americans writing to his wife abigail adams a second letter on july 3 1776 but the day is past the second day of july 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of america i am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival it ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to god almighty it ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade with shews games sports guns bells bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more you will think me transported with enthusiasm but i am not i am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this declaration and support and defend these states yet through all the gloom i can see the rays of ravishing light and glory i can see that the end is more than worth all the means and that posterity will tryumph in that days transaction even altho we should rue it which i trust in god we shall not x in 1855 american archives historian peter force wrote of this event in his book the declaration of independence or notes on lord mahon s history of the american independence the adoption of this resolution on the 2nd of july 1776 was the termination of all lawful authority of the king over the thirteen united colonies made by this act of the congress thirteen united states of america the americans now owed no more allegiance to england than they owed to germany or france or spain they were no longer rebels or insurgents they claimed their recognition as one among the family of nations of the earth and they maintained and sustained the claim it was in the end acknowledged by the king of england himself after the 2nd of july 1776 the english armies with their hessian allies were the invaders of america sent to reduce the independent states to unconditional submission to the crown of england and yet this day has no place in lord mahon s history the day on which was consummated the most important measure that had ever been debated in america after the resolution was passed the continental congress turned to the debate over the language in the committee of five s formal declaration of independence time was short and congress adjourned until wednesday the 3rd the debates of july 3rd and 4th altered the manuscript and with these changes the declaration of independence was considered by the committee of the whole thomas jefferson was disappointed by the depredations made by congress writing the pusillanimous idea that we had friends in england worth keeping terms with still haunted the minds of many for this reason those passages which conveyed censure on the people of england were struck out lest they should give them offense the clause too reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of africa was struck out in compliance to south carolina and georgia who had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves and who on the contrary still wished to continue it our northern brethren also i believe felt a little tender under these censures for tho their people have very few slaves themselves yet they had been pretty considerable carriers of them to others xi despite these july 4th changes and previous committee edits jefferson is rightfully considered the main author of the declaration of independence john adams in his autobiography recalls this of jefferson s pen the committee had several meetings in which were proposed the articles of which the declaration was to consist and minutes made of them the committee then appointed mr jefferson and me to draw them up in form and cloath them in a proper dress the sub committee met and considered the minutes making such observations on them as then occurred when mr jefferson desired me to take them to my lodgings and make the draught this i declined and gave several reasons for declining 1 that he was a virginian and i a massachusettensian 2 that he was a southern man and i a northern one 3 that i had been so obnoxious for my early and constant zeal in promoting the measure that any draught of mine would undergo a more severe scrutiny and criticism in congress than one of his composition 4thly and lastly and that would be reason enough if there were no other i had a great opinion of the elegance of his pen and none at all of my own i therefore insisted that no hesitation should be made on his part he accordingly took the minutes and in a day or two produced to me his draught xii late in the afternoon on july 4th 1776 twelve of the thirteen colonies reached an agreement to formally proclaim themselves as free and independent nations only new york was the lone holdout and it was due to the fact the delegates were not granted the authority to vote yea or nay on independence this was a proclamation that was long overdue as the fighting between the american colonists and the british forces had been going on for over a year the declaration on july 4 th 1776 firstly memorialized what history has judged to be a just moral and most persuasive treatise on why the colonies had the right to declare their independence from great britain the july 2nd vote put the world on notice of the colonies independence it was however the declaration s proclamations that were designed to win the hearts and minds of the american colonists who would be asked to continue a seemingly insuperable war against king and country therefore it was essential that the delegates not rely on the newspapers to disseminate its message to the people as most colonists could not afford the cost of pur chasing a paper consequently in the evening of july 4 1776 john hancock s congress ordered that the declaration be authenticated and printed that the committee appointed to prepare the declaration superintend and correct the press that the copies of the declaration be sent to the several assemblies conventions and committees or councils of safety and to the several commanding officers of the con tinental troops and that it be proclaimed in each of the united states and at the head of the army xiii in accordance with the above order philadelphia printer john dunlap was given the task to print broadside copies of the agreed upon declaration to be signed in type only by continental congress president john hancock and secretary charles thomson since new york had not approved the declaration of independence the word unanimous does not appear on the july 4 1776 broadside broadside produced during the night of july 4 1776 by printer john dunlap courtesy of the national archives authenticate your declaration of independence click here john dunlap is thought to have printed 200 broadsides that july 4th evening which were distributed to the members of congress on july 5th it is a known fact that john hancock sent a copy on july 5th 1776 to the committee of safety of pennsylvania a copy to the convention of new jersey and a copy to colonel haslet with instructions to have it read at the head of his battalion in addition john adams sent one copy and elbridge gerry two copies to friends declaration of independence broadsides were also sent to us ministers benjamin franklin and silas deane in france who were to disseminate copies to the royal houses in europe we know by evidence of silas deane s december 1 1776 letter to the french court that these broadsides were intercepted at sea dated paris december 1 1776 may it please your excellency in obedience to the orders of the honourable congress of the united states of north america i have the honor of presenting to your excellency the inclosed declaration of their independence this declaration was dispatched to me immediately after its being resolv d on but by accidents of war was intercepted or it would have been much earlier presented during ...