ABSTRACT
Over the course of approximately eighteen months in 1775 and 1776, British rule collapsed in mainland British North America—with the exception of Quebec and the Floridas. Over the previous decade colonists had organized protests and boycotts, articulated increasingly refined constitutional arguments to justify their resistance, and exercised increased, often extralegal, autonomy. In so doing they laid the foundation for their future independence. Patrick Henry’s speech in March 1775 (document 1) before the Virginia Convention, in which he called for the colony to take charge of its own defense—against British encroachments—reflects the increased autonomy, militancy, and confidence in the colonies. A month later British soldiers and Massachusetts militia began killing each other, and the War of Independence commenced (documents 2, 3, 4, 5). With the outbreak of the War the British-American dispute entered a new phase. No longer did the controversy concern taxation but more fundamental issues of authority and governance. The Continental Congress began to act as a national government for the rebels. In so doing it presented the colonists’ grievances to the wider world, issuing a Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (document 6) on July 6, 1775, to justify the use of force in Massachusetts. Two days later Congress sent the Olive Branch Petition (document 7) to King George III beseeching the sovereign to intervene to stop the conflict and address colonial grievances. The king, faced with armed resistance to his authority, was in no mood to treat with the killers of his soldiers and proclaimed the colonists to be in a state of rebellion (document 8).
