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Return to Teacher Tattie
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One day as Tattie and I were walking through the Great Rotunda of the Capitol, we saw this painting. Tattie was very interested. She sat down and stared at it, tilting her head to one side. Tattie has always been a curious pup, and wanted to find out what was so important about that picture. I told Tattie that was the day that America became the United States--July 4, 1776, by signing the Declaration of Independence. Tattie told me that she had a sheepdog friend whose great, great, great, great, great, great grand-dog named Buzzy was there. I asked Tattie why Buzzy wasn't in the painting, and apparently Buzzy was outside standing watch againt some Yorkshire Terriers who were trying to spy on the meeting for the British Redcoats. Fortunately, sheepdogs have good memories, and now Tattie can tell us how America gained its Independence.
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Why We Wanted Independence
 There haven’t always been 50 states in our nation. In fact, about 300 years after Christopher Columbus discovered America there were just 13 small groups called colonies. King George III was their King because most of the people had come from England or Britain. But by 1776, many of the people in America didn’t want to be part of England or to have a king at all.
 England decided that the Americans should pay taxes on things like paper, clothes, books, tea, even playing cards. The Americans didn’t like paying taxes to King George because there was no one in England’s Parliament to represent the United States. Fights began to break out between patriots (people who didn’t like English taxes) and redcoats (the British soldiers). Thomas Paine was one patriot who authored a pamphlet called "Common Sense" to convince Americans that they would be happier without British rulers.
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The Decision to Become "United States"
 In June of 1776, each colony sent delegates to represent them in the Continental Congress. One man, named John Hancock, had been outspoken in his criticism against the British. He didn't care how mad King George was at him, and he was happy to be the president of the Continental Congress. About one third of the Americans wanted independence; one third wanted to remain as English colonies; the final third wasn’t sure what to do, but everyone knew that something had to be done soon. They decided to appoint a committee of five people to start drafting a declaration to Britain in case the Americans decided they wanted to be independent. The committee included Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, John Adams of Massachusetts, Robert Livingston of New York, and the most famous American of the time, Ben Franklin of Pennsylvania.
 The delegates talked for weeks. One man named John Adams said he was bored because the arguments were always the same. As they prepared to vote, John Dickinson of Pennsylvania said "But have we not enjoyed liberty even under the English?" John Adams stood up and gave a passionate speech, saying that Americans really already were independent because King George had said that he would not defend them from an outside attack.
Then it was time to vote. Nine colonies voted yes for independence, two voted no to remain colonies, and two didn’t vote. That wasn’t good enough. On July 2, 1776, Caesar Rodney, who was very sick with cancer, rode in to Philadelphia from Delaware to help break the stalemate. South Carolina and Pennsylvania switched their votes to yes, and later New York also voted yes. |
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Writing the Declaration
Good writing can be difficult. Tattie says it’s especially hard when you have paws instead of hands. So when Thomas Jefferson was asked to put the revolutionary ideas of Congress into words, he knew he had a daunting task before him. Every morning he would rise before the sun, soak his feet in cold water, have tea and biscuits, and begin to write. He often wrote standing up. As he attended the Congress, he did a lot of revising, crossing out, adding, and ripping up different attempts. Finally, he finished a version that both he and the Committee of Five agreed upon.
 The words he wrote were so powerful that they are still used to express the ideas of justice and liberty today. He wrote that there are natural laws that come from God, not Kings or men, that are the same for everyone. “All men are created equal” and have God-given rights including “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” He wanted everyone to know that governments get their power and authority from the people, not the other way around.
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The Celebration Since
 The Declaration of Independence was first read publicly on July 8, 1776 and has been a celebrated National treasure ever since. At that time, George Washington and his troops had already been fighting the Redcoats to protect American cities. When it was read to Washington and his troops on July 9, 1776, they were so happy that they pulled down a 15 foot statue of King George III riding a horse. The statue was melted down and made into 42,000 bullets for the muskets of the Revolutionary troops.
 The Declaration is written upon parchment, which is animal skin that was stretched and prepared for writing and then rolled up for storing. Preserving the Declaration has required special care. In the War of 1812 when the British attacked Washington and set fire to the Capitol, it was barely saved by a government clerk who sprinted away and hid it in Leesburg, Virginia. It was also protected in Fort Knox with the nation's gold reserves after Pearl Harbor was bombed. Now it is in a special, high tech glass display unit that is filled with helium and light filters.
As special as this document is, the real treasure is the liberty that it secured for us. Freedom isn't free; the men and women of 1776 took great risks and made difficult sacrifices for us. So, Tattie says next time you see fireworks on Independence Day, remember what they celebrate. |
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