Click2History - American Colonies - Chapter 6

<BODY aLink=#ff0000 bgColor=#000033 link=#0000ff vLink=#000000> <TABLE bgColor=#000033 width="100%"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD align=middle vAlign=top> <TABLE bgColor=#ffffff width="90%"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD align=middle vAlign=top> <TR> <TD> <DIV align=center> <P><B><FONT color=#000000 face="arial, helvetica" size=5><B>WE ARE FREE!</P> <P><FONT size=4>CHAPTER 6 - EVIDENCE OF FREEDOM</B></FONT></P></DIV></FONT> <CENTER> <TABLE width="90%"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD align=left vAlign=top> <DIV align=justify> <P><FONT color=#000000 face="arial, helvetica" size=3>As soon as Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock <A href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/0900001.jpg" target=_blank><B>wrote</B></A> a letter to George Washington <A href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/0900001.jpg" target=_blank><B>enclosing</B></A> a copy of the Declaration. It was important for the Commander-in-Chief to know the American colonies were formally separated from Great Britain.</P> <P>It was also important for the people to know. The Declaration was <A href="http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bdsds/photo14.jpg" target=_blank><B>read to a crowd</B></A> on the day it was signed (Thursday, the 4th) and <A href="http://memory.loc.gov/rbc/rbpe/rbpe34/rbpe346/34604400/001dq.gif" target=_blank><B>the text</B></A> was <A href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/19/28/19-2777a.jpg" target=_blank><B>printed</B></A> immediately. (Follow this link to view one of the earliest printings.)</P> <P>By the 8th of July it was the <A href="http://earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/doi/doi.jpg" target=_blank><B>lead story</B></A> in one of the most influential colonial papers: Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet. Six years after the Boston <A href="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/ppmsc/00100/00174r.jpg" target=_blank><B>Massacre</B></A>, citizens of that town heard the Declaration read on July 18, 1776 as they stood in the very <A href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/28/4/28-0329a.gif" target=_blank><B>place</B></A> where Crispus Attucks <A href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/28/4/28-0310a.gif" target=_blank><B>fell</B></A>.</P> <P>While George III had prevented the colonies from printing their own money, Congress could now disregard the <A href="http://www.founding.com/library/lbody.cfm?id=84&parent=17" target=_blank><B>Currency Act of 1764</B></A>. The English Parliament no longer governed America. Three weeks after the Declaration of Independence was signed, "The United Colonies" issued the country’s first dollars.</P> <P>The <A href="http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCurrency/CurrencyImages/CC/CC-07-22-76-$3.obv.jpg" target=_blank><B>Three Dollar Bill</B></A>, issued on July 22, 1776, has an interesting emblem: An eagle fighting a heron with the motto "Exitus in dubio est" (the outcome is in doubt). The emblem on the <A href="http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCurrency/CurrencyImages/CC/CC-07-22-76-$7.obv.jpg" target=_blank><B>Seven Dollar Bill</B></A> is more positive (a storm at sea with the motto "Serenabit" - it will clear up) while the <A href="http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCurrency/CurrencyImages/CC/CC-07-22-76-$30.obv.jpg" target=_blank><B>Thirty Dollar Bill</B></A> hints at ultimate triumph (a wreath on a tomb with the words "Si recte facies" - if you act righteously).</P> <P>Of course, as far as George III was concerned, the new dollar bills violated the law while the Declaration was a worthless piece of paper whose signers were guilty of treason. <A href="http://www.si.umich.edu/spies/b-portrait-kinggeorgeiii.jpg" target=_blank><B>His Majesty</B></A> would not give in.</P> <P>The war would drag on for many more years.</P></DIV> <P align=center><FONT size=2><a href="am_colonies_ch5.htm">GO TO LAST CHAPTER</a>     <a href="am_colonies_ch1.htm">BACK TO FIRST CHAPTER</a></P><BR></FONT></FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></B></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></BODY>