Crafting America’s Birth Certificate 250
Jefferson, the Committee of Five, and the making of the Declaration of Independence.
Craig Seibert | July 1, 2026
By the summer of 1776, the American colonies had reached a point of no return. More than a year had passed since the battles of Lexington and Concord ignited armed conflict with Great Britain. British troops had occupied Boston, King George III had declared the colonies to be in open rebellion, and hopes for reconciliation were rapidly fading.
In January 1776, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense transformed public opinion by arguing that independence was both practical and morally necessary. By June, several colonial governments had instructed their delegates to support independence. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee introduced his famous resolution declaring that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”
Congress recognized that independence required more than a vote. The world needed an explanation, and future generations needed a statement of the principles upon which the new nation would be founded. On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee to prepare that declaration.
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