who should "command all the continental forces, raised, or to be raised, for the defence of American liberty."

Washington was officially informed of his election on June 16 by Peyton Randolph of Virginia, president of the Congress.

Whereupon Col. Washington, standing in his place,
Spoke as follows.

"Mr President,

"Tho' I am truly sensible of the high Honour done me in this Appointment, yet I feel great distress, from a consciousness that my abilities and military experi ence may not be equal to the extensive & important Trust:....

"But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavourable to my reputation, I beg it may be remem bered by every Gent? in the room, that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think my self equal to the Command I [am] honoured with. As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to Assure the Congress that as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to have accepted this Arduous emploiment at y expence of my domes! ease & hap[iness] I do not wish to make any proffit from it: I will keep an exact Account of my expences; those I doubt not they will discharge & that is all I desire." (Document 6.)

Ten days later a Continental currency was established, and before the end of July a Post Office for the "United Colonies" was set up with headquarters in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin was unanimously chosen to be the first "postmaster General."

can subjects were "engaged in open and avowed rebellion," and he opened Parliament in October with a speech asserting that "the rebellious war now levied is become more general, and is manifestly carried on for the purpose of establishing an inde pendent empire." Some Americans, like Samuel Adams, retorted that if the King thought they were fighting for independence, they might as well do so, but the majority of the Continental Congress still clung to the hope of reconciliation.

This hope dimmed when Parliament passed the American Prohibitory Act, described even by some members of Parliament as a "declaration of war" on America. It made all American vessels and their cargoes forfeit to the Crown "as if the same were the ships and effects of open enemies."

Finally, word reached the colonies that the King had negotiated treaties with German states to hire mercenaries to fight in America. George Washington secured copies of some of these agreements and sent them to Congress on May 23, 1776. Curiously, this action of the King-the hiring of Hessians was what finally convinced many Americans that the mother country was indeed treating her colonies as a foreign country.

British Response

to

American Petitions

When the Second Continental Congress began its deliberations, King George III had made no official reply to the petition for redress of grievances sent to him by the First Continental Congress. Parliament had sent to the colonial legislature an offer of conciliation with no real expectation that its terms would be accepted, and they were not.

The determination of the King and Parliament to take a hard line with the colonies became increasingly evident as news of proclamations and acts came across the Atlantic. In August 1775, the King issued a proclamation declaring that his Ameri

Reluctant Steps

Toward Independence

Still the Continental Congress did not rush headlong into independence. One at a time, the ties with the mother country were cut, and it was only after separation from England was virtually a fact that a declaration of independence was issued.

The Privateering Resolution that "inhabitants of these colonies be permitted to fit out armed vessels to cruize [sic] on the enemies of these United Colonies," was an early indication that the United Colonies were becoming a sovereign state or group of states. Passed in March 1776, it also established rules and regulations to govern prize cases expected to arise from the capture of "enemy" vessels (document 7).

Two weeks later, on April 6, the ports of America were opened to the commerce of the world

20

that the patience of even the most conservative and loyal members of the Congress was nearing an end.

Whereas his Britannic Majesty in conjunction with the lords and commons of great Britain has by a late act of Parliament excluded the inhabitants of these united colonies from the protection of his crown And whereas no answer whatever to the humble petitions of the colonies for redress of grievances & reconciliation with great Britain has been or is likely to be given; but the whole force of that Kingdom aided by foreign mercenaries is to be exerted for the destruction of the good people of these colonies, And whereas it appears absolutely irreconsileable to reason and good Conscience for the people of these colonies now to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support of any government under the crown of great Britain, and it is necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the said crown should be totally suppressed and all the powers of government exerted under the authority of the people of the colonies for the preservation of internal peace, virtue & good order as well as for the defence of their lives liberties and properties against the hostile invasions & cruel depreda tions of their enemies, therefore resolved &c. (Doc. 9B) Little was now left of the structure of England's colonial empire on the American mainland between Quebec and Florida. The Thirteen Colonies were separated economically and politically from the mother country.

At the same time, the people were slowly becoming accustomed to the inevitability of independence as it began to be debated openly in the active colonial press. A pamphlet entitled Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, denounced monarchy as "ridiculous" and called for independence because "there is something absurd, in supposing a Continent to be perpetually governed by an island."

Within months of its publication in January 1776, thousands of copies had been sold, helping to convince its readers that "the cause of America is the cause of mankind."

In April North Carolina instructed its Continental Congress delegates to "concur with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring independency," and on May 4 Rhode Island declared itself independent.

The British burning of Norfolk and a Tory uprising in North Carolina helped to crystallize colonial thought. The drive toward freedom rapidly gained momentum; by the middle of May eight colonies had decided that they would join in supporting independence. The Convention of Virginia took a significant step on May 15 by passing the following resolution:

Forasmuch as all the endeavours of the United Colo-
nies by the most decent representations and petitions
to the king and parliament of Great Britain to restore
peace and security to America under the British
government and a re-union with that people upon just
and liberal terms instead of a redress of grievances have
produced from an imperious and vindictive adminis
tration increased insult oppression and a vigorous
attempt to effect our total destructions. ...

Resolved unanimously, that the delegates appointed
to represent this colony in General Congress be
instructed to propose to that respectable body to
declare the United Colonies free and independent
states, absolved from all allegiance to, or dependence
upon, the crown or parliament of Great Britain; and
that they give the assent of this colony to such
declaration.... (Document 10.)