Independence: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident'

PLATTSBURGH | Adoption of the declaration that founded the United States of America has an illustrious history. It was read out loud in public through the early months of revolution. The 2nd Continental Congress actually resolved independence in the Lee Resolution on July 2, 1776, severing ties with the King of Great Britain. They published their position formally on July 4, 1776. The historic missive -- the Declaration of Independence -- was read out loud by historian John Krueger on a warm July day this summer to commemorate 250 years since it was published. A ceremony coordinated by the Valcour Battle Chapter Sons of the American Revolution and the Clinton County Historical Association drew large attendance, joined by area elected officials and historians. Color guard honors were officiated by youth from the Adirondack District Scouting America troops and Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York. Patriotic songs were sung by the Cumberland Bay Chorus. DECLARATION AUTHENTICATED On July 4, 1776, the 2nd Continental Congress approved the final language in a document declaring independence from British rule. They sent their resolution to be "authenticated and printed" by John Dunlap, the official Congressional printer. Dunlap produced 200 copies of a broadside -- a single sheet of paper. Broadsides weren't just a barrage of cannon fire from a warship. In print, they were used to blast urgent news. The declaration was first published in a newspaper on July 6, 1776 in the Pennsylvania Evening Post. The first public reading took place on July 8, 1776, at Independence Square in Philadelphia. Public readings were important because only half of the population of men could read. Throughout that summer, the Declaration of Independence was read in public in town centers and inns, in churches and at military camps. Congress renamed it "The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America" on July 19, 1776. It was signed by most of the founders on Aug. 6, 1776, gaining the last of 56 signatures after January 1777. On January 18, 1777, Congress requested authenticated copies of the declaration -- complete with the signers' names -- printed and sent to each state. This task was taken on by Baltimore printer Mary Katharine Goddard, who ran the Maryland Journal newspaper and was postmaster of the Baltimore Post Office. The "Goddard Broadside" was the first disclosure of delegates' names, men who risked life and livelihood to sign the Declaration of Independence. Goddard placed her own name on that broadside on the bottom line: "Baltimore, in Maryland: Printed by Mary Katharine Goddard." .............................................. LETTER TO JOHN ADAMS Thirty-four years after the historic July 4, 1776 pronouncement, signer Benjamin Rush, a medical doctor from Pennsylvania and delegate to the 2nd Continental Congress, recalled their resolve to independence. In a letter to his "old friend" John Adams on July 20, 1811, Dr. Rush disclosed: "The 4th of July has been celebrated in Philada: in the manner I expected. The military men, and particularly one of them, ran away with all the glory of the day. "Scarcely a word was said of the solicitude and labors, and fears, and sorrows and sleepless nights of the men who projected, proposed, defended, and Subscribed the declaration of independance [sic]. "Do you recollect your memorable speech upon the Day on which the Vote was taken? Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress, to subscribe what was believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants? "The Silence & the gloom of the morning were interrupted I well recollect only for a moment by Col: Harrison of Virginia who said to Mr (Elbridge) Gerry at the table, 'I shall have a great advantage over you Mr: Gerry when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.' This Speech procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the Solemnity with which the whole business was conducted." The signers and their families, business associates, publishers and patriots had risked lives, property, families and fortunes to create a new nation. ................................................................... PUBLIC READING 250 YEARS LATER The gravity of the founders' decision in 1776 was clear as the Declaration of Independence was read out loud at Plattsburgh Barracks Veterans Park at the Old Base on July 3. Historian and retired UVM history professor John Krueger described how Congress confronted a question whose answer would echo across generations. "Should the American colonies declare themselves free and independent?" They voted to separate from the King of England on July 2, 1776, but how to present their argument? How to frame goals for a new nation? Five men were tasked with giving voice to independence, Krueger said, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston. At age 70, Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate at the 2nd Continental Congress, but he declined. Thomas Jefferson, age 33, assumed the responsibility. Jefferson later explained, "he sought truth, plainly expressed, to give the common sense of the subject." In Jefferson's first draft, Krueger said, central truths were described as "sacred and undeniable." But Ben Franklin offered the simpler, stronger phrase, "self-evident." The committee presented the document to congressional delegates on June 28, 1776. That delivery is immortalized in John Trumbull's famous oil painting, the Declaration of Independence, which now hangs in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. "250 years ago today they were in the process of debating, revising and weighing each word," Krueger said on July 3. Even as they met, the first wave of the British fleet was arriving with more than 100 ships and 9,000 troops near the shores of New York City. .................................. GRIEVANCES CHARGED Krueger read the Declaration of Independence, evoking a tradition as old as the document itself. The timeless words of the preamble direct 27 grievances against the King of England. The declaration asserts that government derives "just powers from the consent of the governed." Examples of tyranny were expressly charged by the Continental Congress. King George III, the founders said, refused to approve necessary laws for the public good. The king interfered with self-government; he abused the judicial system; he imposed taxes without consent and committed trade violations. Grievances against the king written into the Declaration of Independence charged in part: "He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. "He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass [sic] our people, and eat out their substance. "He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. "For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States." "For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent. "For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: "For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences." The last sentence affirmed joint resolve: "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." AMERICA'S PURPOSE Krueger said the Declaration of Independence is widely viewed as the definition of America's purpose. "Jefferson's 35 words -- 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness' -- remain among the most consequential in American history," Kroeger said. Declaring independence was one thing, keeping it was something else. The question became whether it could be preserved and the story turned north to the Champlain Valley, Krueger said. "Soldiers and sailors in the Champlain Valley had to keep those words from becoming dead letters," Krueger said. America's fight at Valcour Island just three months later was one of the Revolution's hardest hours. "Valcour Island stands at the hinge between declaration and endurance," Kroeger said. "It reminds us that this region stands firmly within the great story of American freedom." The crowd sat hushed after the presentation, until invited by SAR coordinator Bud Smith to borrow an old soldiering cheer: Huzza! Huzza! Huzza! .............................. FIND OUT MORE: Many events, presentations, discussions and celebrations are planned in towns throughout the region to commemorate 250 years since the nation's founding. A list of events and resources is available online: battleofvalcour.com The Battle of Valcour Bay will be reenacted on Oct. 11 as part of a three-day commemoration series that begins on Oct. 9. The naval reenactment will take place in Lake Champlain, but not in Valcour Bay. Reenactors will engage off City Beach in Plattsburgh to allow plenty of space for visitors and residents to watch and engage local history.

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Independence: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident'

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