When was america founded 1776

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Their letters and journals are a kind of "first draft" of the Charters of Freedom. But a test vote conducted on July 1 was anything but unanimous.

Pennsylvania and South Carolina hoped there was still a chance to reconcile with Britain; they voted against independence. And New York abstained—its delegates were under orders not to impede a possible reconciliation. The next day, on July 2, the delegates tried again. This time, the vote had a different outcome. South Carolina changed its position. That day, the Congress voted unanimously for independence.

Although the debate was not documented, Jefferson later blamed South Carolina and Georgia for balking at the passage. Many delegates, including Jefferson himself, held slaves and personally profited from their labor. With the Declaration of Independence complete, the Continental Congress voted to adopt it on July 4, It was received with great fanfare, and July 4—not July 2—is celebrated as the anniversary of American independence.

But for those the document left out—enslaved people, Native Americans, and women—the celebrated declaration proved to be anything but a guarantee of equality. All rights reserved. British officials throughout the colonies increasingly found their authority challenged by informal local governments, although loyalist sentiment remained strong in some areas.

Despite these changes, colonial leaders hoped to reconcile with the British Government, and all but the most radical members of Congress were unwilling to declare independence. However, in late , Benjamin Franklin, then a member of the Secret Committee of Correspondence, hinted to French agents and other European sympathizers that the colonies were increasingly leaning towards seeking independence.

While perhaps true, Franklin also hoped to convince the French to supply the colonists with aid. Independence would be necessary, however, before French officials would consider the possibility of an alliance. Throughout the winter of —, the members of the Continental Congress came to view reconciliation with Britain as unlikely, and independence the only course of action available to them. When on December 22, , the British Parliament prohibited trade with the colonies, Congress responded in April of by opening colonial ports—this was a major step towards severing ties with Britain.

In the early s, more and more colonists became convinced that Parliament intended to take away their freedom. In fact, the Americans saw a pattern of increasing oppression and corruption happening all around the world.

Parliament was determined to bring its unruly American subjects to heel. Britain began to prepare for war in early The first fighting broke out in April in Massachusetts.