The Road to Independence On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee stood to address the Second Continental Congress. Although fighting raged in New England, the decision to declare independence still hung in the balance. Acting upon instructions from the Virginia Assembly, Lee opened one of the great debates in our history.

The Big Ideas Ch In ringing words, he declared: Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved of all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

Continued... Seconded by John Adams, the resolution brought great changes. Delegates stopped talking about a struggle to win “the rights of Englishmen.” Instead, they spoke of revolution waged in defense of “natural rights.” The job defining these rights fell to Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. Part 4 covers the chain of events that led Americans to adopt a new language of freedom.

On the Way to the Second Continental Congress Ch. 16 Few of the delegates who traveled to Philadelphia in 1775 wanted to rush headlong into revolution. However, with bullets flying in Boston, most wondered how long they could continue to call themselves English subjects.

Term to define: legislative authority

“laws” George Washington wanted slavery abolished by legislative authority.