Existing comment:
American Origins
By the time a resolution for independence was put before Congress in June 1776, hostilities between Britain and its American colonies had gone on for more than a year, but some members still held out hope for reconciliation. On July 2, the vote was taken, and two days later the Declaration of Independence, penned by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted. Fifty-six men, mutually pledging "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor," ultimately signed the document. "I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration," John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail.
The war continued for seven more years, its outcome determined when the British army surrendered at Yorktown Virginia, in October 1781 while the British army band played "The World Turned Upside Down." Fighting continued, however, until the final peace treaty was signed in 1783. |