South Carolina. Their hope was to get possession of the city; but Colonel Moultrie, aided by such heroes as Sergeant Jasper, defended this log fort with such energy that the enemy were not sorry to withdraw. Thereafter the fort was called Fort Moultrie in honor of its brave commander. 166. "Common Sense "" ; the Americans decide to separate from Great Britain.-Up to 1776 the Americans had been fighting in defence of their rights as British subjects. Washington said: "When I first took command of the Continental army I abhorred the idea of independence." But in January, 1776, the king's proclamation reached Congress. In it he called for troops to put down "the rebellion" in America. That was the only answer he gave to their humble petition1 for justice. Congress now saw that there Reduced Copy of the Gold Medal was no hope of reconciliation. The presented to Washington by Convery day that proclamation came a re gress. markable pamphlet was published in Philadelphia. It was entitled "Common Sense." The writer withheld his name, but he boldly said that the time had come for a "final separation" from England, and that “ arms must decide the contest." The pamphlet sold by tens of thousands, because it gave voice to what tens of thousands were thinking. The English people would not volunteer to fight the Americans, and the king had to hire, in all, nearly thirty thousand Hessians for the work. The knowledge 1 See note I on page 156. 2 The writer was Thomas Paine, an Englishman who had come to this country and espoused the cause of American liberty. 3 Hessians: Germans from the province of Hesse and vicinity. The Prince of of that fact cut the last thread that held us bound to the mother country. The Americans had not sought separation; the king -not the English people The Old State House ("Independence Hall ") Philadelphia, as it appeared in 1776. DEPENDENT STATES." John Adams of Massachusetts seconded the resolution. A committee of five-Thomas Jefferson of Vir And for the support of this declaration] we mutually pledge to each other our lives our fortunes, & our sacred honour. John John Hancock Sam Adams Reduced Copy of the last line of the Declaration of Independence (in Jefferson's handwriting) with the first three signatures. Hesse sold their services to the English king. The Germans had no voice in the matter, and had to go and fight where they were sent. Eighteen thousand were sent over the first year and eleven thousand afterward. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 165 ginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston of New York-was chosen to draw up a declaration embodying that resolution. Thomas Jefferson did the work. On the Fourth of July, 1776, John Hancock, President of Congress, signed the Decla ration of American Independence in that bold, decided hand which "the king of England could read without spectacles." Then the patriots of Philadelphia rang the "Lib erty Bell" in the Old State House till it nearly cracked with the joyous peal. In New York City the people pulled down a gilded lead statue of the king and melted it up into bullets. Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Later, the representatives of the colonies added their names to the Declaration. That completed the work; the thirteen British colonies had ceased to exist; in their place stood a new nation-the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,- your country and mine. 168. Summary.-George III. endeavored to tax the colonists against their will, and in violation of their rights as English subjects. They resisted, and finally took up arms in their defence. The king refused to listen to the demands of the Americans, hired a foreign army to subdue the people, and so drove them, at last, to separate from Great Britain and to declare themselves independent. |