Washington believed that after leaving Boston the British would try to
take New York in order to get control of the Hudson River and the middle
colonies. To outwit them his men must get to New York first. This they
did.
[Illustration: Sir William Howe.]
He had not gone far in putting up defenses there when an event of profound
importance took place in Philadelphia. This was the signing of the
Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress. Up to the summer
of 1776, it was for their rights as free-born Englishmen that the
colonists had been fighting. But now that King George was sending
thousands of soldiers to force them to give up these rights, which were as
dear to them as their own lives, they said: "We will cut ourselves off
from England. We will make our own laws; we will levy our own taxes; we
will manage our affairs in our own way. We will declare our independence."
So they appointed a committee, two of whom were Thomas Jefferson and
Benjamin Franklin, to draw up the Declaration of Independence. This was
signed July 4, 1776.
[Illustration: Thomas Jefferson Looking Over the Rough Draught of the
Declaration of Independence.]
It was a great day in American history, and worthy of celebration.
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