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Two days prior to the Declaration's adoption, the Second Continental Congress passed the Lee Resolution, which established the consensus of the Congress that the British had no governing authority over the Thirteen Colonies. The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing 27 colonial grievances against King George III ...
The Lee Resolution, also known as "The Resolution for Independence", was the formal assertion passed by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, resolving that the Thirteen Colonies (then referred to as the United Colonies) were "free and independent States" and separate from the British Empire.
Two days later, on July 4, Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. The Second Continental Congress was not initially formed to declare independence. Support for independence had grown gradually in 1775 and 1776 as Great Britain refused the colonists' demands and hostilities became more pronounced.
The Thirteen Colonies could trade with the rest of the empire but only ship certain commodities like tobacco to Britain. Any European imports bound for British America had to first pass through an English port and pay customs duties. [17] Other laws regulated colonial industries, such as the Wool Act 1698, the Hat Act 1731, and the Iron Act 1750.
It raised an army to fight the British and named George Washington its commander, made treaties, declared independence, and recommended that the colonies write constitutions and become states, [64] later enumerated in the 1777 Articles of Confederation. [c]
July 4 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence, in which the United States officially declares independence from the British Empire, is approved by the Continental Congress and signed by its president, John Hancock, together with representatives from Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts Bay, New ...
In August 1775, the colonies were formally declared to be in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion, and the petition was rejected by the British government; King George had refused to read it before declaring the colonists traitors.
The Petition to the King was a petition sent to King George III by the First Continental Congress in 1774, calling for the repeal of the Intolerable Acts.The King's rejection of the Petition, was one of the causes of the later United States Declaration of Independence and American Revolutionary War.