dent States, they have full power to levy | tract alliances, establish commerce, and to war, conclude peace, contract alliances, es- do all other acts and things which indepentablish commerce, and to do all other acts dent States may of right do. And for the and things which independent States may of support of this Declaration, with a firm reliright do. And for the support of this decla-ance on the protection of Divine Providence, ration, we mutually pledge to each other our we mutually pledge to each other our lives, lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. our fortunes and our sacred honor. Sam Adams Swth Paca co. Read Wm Hooper bullymen Step Afpkin TiN tortes Caroll of arroll will ridge Gory. cap Royer, Sherman ـر Som & Huntington ah Bartlets Home Lynch Ju Josiah W John Morron Olver Notions Jr Huverte Gro Hot Arthur Middleton Tre Hopkinson Geo Walton Cartery Braxton Braxton James Wilson Lymon William Ellis fuced Entity Ser. Somitten AUTOGRAPHS OF "THE SIGNERS" OF THE AUGust 2d Copy. Explanatory Notes to the Declaration of Independence. 1.-Laws passed by the Colonial Assemblies, in relation to commerce, finance, etc. 2.Some of the Provincial governors endeavored to conciliate the Indian tribes by treaties of alliance and other measures; but the King, fearing that the colonists would thus acquire too much strength, and be less dependent upon the British crown, instructed the governors to desist from all such measures till his consent should be given; and failed subsequently to give such consent. 3.In 1774, a bill was passed which took the government of Massachusetts out of the hands of the people, vesting the nomination of judges, etc., in the crown. It also abridged the privilege of proper election. The people then demanded the passage of laws for the "accommodation of large districts of people," but were told that they must first "relinquish the right of representation in the legislature." - This refers to the passage of the Boston Port Bill, by which the Custom House, Courts, etc., were removed to Salem; while the public records were kept at Boston. 5.-The Colonial Assembly of Massachusetts, in 1768, invited by circular the other Assemblies to join it in opposing the urgent measures of Great Britain, and was dissolved for so doing. Other Assemblies were dissolved for similar reasons, and in the same arbitrary manner. 6.This was the case in regard to the Assemblies of New York and Massachusetts, which were dissolved by royal authority, and not permitted to reassemble for several months, the States in the meantime being in great peril of "invasion from without, and convulsions within." 7.The King dreaded the increasing power of the colonies, as well as the advance of democratic ideas in them. The German immigration was especially checked by obstacles and discouragements. 8. By the act of 1774, Massachusetts was deprived of its own judiciary, the judges being appointed by the King. 9. The salaries of the judges were paid under the royal authority, from moneys obtained from the people. 10. The passage of the Stamp Act, and the other similar acts, gave rise to the appointment of swarms of tax collectors, etc. 11. The armies employed in the French and Indian War were continued in the colonies after the treaty of 1763. 12. Thus General Gage, a military commander, was made Governor of Massachusetts; and the military were employed to enforce the Boston Port Bill. 13. The Board of Trade was created to act independently of colonial legislation, and almost absolute power was conferred on the King. 14.-Large forces were levied and sent over by vote of the English Parliament, to control the inhabitants. 15.In 1768, some mariners were tried in Annapolis, Maryland, for the murder of two citizens, and in the face of clear proof of their guilt were acquitted. Similar instances occurred in other places. 16. Such had been the result of the Navigation Acts. The British Navy was also employed to break up the colonial trade with the French and Spanish West Indies. Such as the Stamp duties, the tax on paper, painter's colors, tea, etc. 17. 18. 19. 20. In trials for violation of the revenue laws, under the Commissioners of Customs, the accused were not allowed the benefit of a jury. Persons charged with riot, resistance to the magistrates, might, by a law passed in 1774, be transported to Great Britain or other places for trial. The law of 1774 abolished the popular legislature in Canada, and appointed royal officers to make laws for the province, except to raise taxes. This gave the British a firm hold of Canada, and enabled them to use it to advantage against the colonies during the Revolution; hence the efforts of Congress to gain possession of that province in 1775. 21.This was done in the case of the judiciary of Massachusetts. Other officers besides judges were made dependent on the crown, in opposition to the chartered rights of the people. 22. After the dissolution of the colonial legislatures, before mentioned, several of the governors presumed to legislate arbitrarily for the colonies, giving to their proclamations the force of laws. 23. The King, in 1775, declared the colonies in open rebellion; and he sanctioned the acts of the governors in employing Indian warfare against them. He also employed German mercenaries to war against them. In these acts he abdicated the proper functions of government, and placed the colonies beyond the pale of his protection. 24. These acts were performed by the naval commanders. Charlestown was burned by the British fleet. 25. This is covered, in a general way in the article referred to. 26. 27. The crews of American ships captured by the British were, by Act of Parliament, treated not as prisoners of war, but as slaves, and were impressed into the King's service. Dunmore, in Virginia, endeavored to excite the slaves to rise against their masters. The Indians were, under instructions from the British ministry, instigated by several of the colonial governors to attack the colonists. Dreadful massacres were the consequence. The Journal of Congress, as printed, contains the following entry :— Thursday, July 4, 1776. Agreeable to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into further consideration the declaration; and after some time the president resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee had agreed to a declaration which they desired him to report. The declaration being read was agreed to as follows: Here is inserted the full printing of the "Declaration of Independence." The record closes with what purport to be the printed names of the subscribers on the day it was passed-July 4, 1776. The names of McKean and Wisner, who voted in its favor, do not appear. The names, as printed, are the subscribers to the engrossed copy as signed by the members of Congress on August 2, 1776. These published minutes, or “Journal,” being authorized by Congress, is the legal record of the United States history. an unfortunate error in recorded July 5, 1776. The Declaration, signed Attest: CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary. JOHN HANCOCK, President. It was printed as a "broadside" during the night of July 4 and the day of July 5, by John Dunlap of Philadelphia, also by Mary Catherine Goddard of Baltimore. It went out to the world this day, with the two signatures above given, being signed as customary with preceding proclamations and public documents, unless otherwise ordered, "Signed by the President and attested by the Secretary of Congress, in behalf and by order of Congress." The Philadelphia papers published on July 5 were silent upon the subject, its passage not being known until July 6. July 8, 1776. The Declaration had its first public reading. It was read in the State House yard, Philadelphia, from an observatory erected by the American Philosophical Society in 1769, for the purpose of observing the transit of Venus. The reader was John Nixon, a member of the Council of Safety of Pennsylvania. It was further publicly read at New York City, July 9 (Washington was at this place with his army, to whom it was read by one of his aides); at Boston, July 17; at Williamsburg, Virginia, July 25; at Charleston, South Carolina, August 5; and at Savannah, Georgia, August 10. July 19, 1776. "Resolved, That the Declaration passed on the Fourth be fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and style of 'The unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America'; and that the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member of the Congress." August 2, 1776. The authenticated copy of the Declaration of Independence-resolution, July 19, 1776- being engrossed and compared at the table, was signed by all those who were members of Congress on August 2, 1776, 54 members; Thos. McKean signing in October, and Matthew Thornton in November following. Thornton was not a member August 2. He was authorized by Congress to sign. September 9, 1776. Congress resolved, "That in all Continental commissions, and other instruments, where heretofore the words 'United Colonies' have been used, the style be altered for the future to the 'United States.'" "Journal," II. 328. The first use of this term is in the Declaration. January 18, 1777. "Ordered, That an authenticated copy of the declaration of independency, with the names of Congress subscribing the same, be sent to each of the United States, and they be desired to have the same put on record." The Voters and Signers of the Declaration of Inde pendence. The members signing the Declaration under resolution of July 19, 1776, did so as a test oath; the principles of many of the new delegates coming into Congress from the different States were not known with a certainty, it being feared some might be tories in disguise. New Hampshire. 66 Bartlett and Whipple voted in favor, and signed the authenticated copy," August 2, 1776. Thornton, not appointed a delegate, did not appear in Congress until September, 1776. He was permitted to sign the "copy" in November, 1776. Massachusetts. Samuel Adams, John Adams, Hancock, Paine, and Gerry voted in favor, and signed the "copy," August 2, 1776. Hancock, as President of Congress, also signed the original resolution. He was the only member of Congress signing the original document. Rhode Island. Hopkins and Ellery voted in favor, and signed the " copy," August 2, 1776. The tremulous appearance of the signature of Hopkins was incident to bodily ailment, "shaking palsy." Connecticut. Sherman, Huntington, Williams, and Wolcott voted in favor, and signed the "copy," August 2, 1776. New York. Floyd, P. Livingston, Lewis, and Morris voted in favor, and signed the "copy," August 2, 1776. George Clinton was present and voted in favor. He left Congress shortly after, being appointed a brigadier in the army. John Alsop was present, voting against the measure. He later resigned. Henry Wisner voted in favor, yet his name does not appear in the Journals of Congress. Not being a member August 2, 1776, he did not sign the " copy. R. Livingston, not present when the vote was taken. He was called home to attend the Provincial Congress. He did not sign the "copy," as if he had been present when the vote was taken, for, although a member of the Committee to prepare the original draft, and strongly in favor of its adoption, he did not regard the doctrine, that a representative is bound to act in accordance with the expressed will of his constituents; holding that as the Provincial Assembly of New York had not authorized an approval of the Declaration the representatives in Congress were without instructions and therefore could not act. New York did not sanction action until July 9, which authority was laid before Congress July 15. R. Livingston was not a member of Congress on August 2, 1776. was a nephew of Philip Livingston, one of the signers. New Jersey. He Stockton, Witherspoon, Hopkinson, Hart, and Clark voted in favor, and signed the "copy," August 2, 1776. Pennsylvania. Franklin, Morton, and Wilson voted in favor, and signed the "copy," August 2, 1776. |