Declaration of Independence
The American Revolution was both a war for independence and a conflict that gave rise to a new society and political culture. The Declaration of Independence was the document in which the people of the thirteen British North American colonies declared their separation from Great Britain and set forth the broad principles on which America built, and continued to build, the nation. Un-happy with the way in which the British government was ruling the colonies, the colonists began the Revolutionary War in April 1775 to establish their rights within the British Empire. Later, many of them began to call for outright independence, resulting in the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia.
The Declaration on Taking Up Arms
When the colonists began their revolt against Great Britain, they did not initially seek independence. However, they had to justify their armed resistance against the British. To this end, the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration on Taking up Arms, which it approved on July 6, 1775. Thomas Jefferson originally composed this document, although John Dickinson extensively revised it. The Declaration on Taking up Arms listed the colonists' grievances, most of which later appeared in the Declaration of Independence.
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