Lee Resolution

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The Lee Resolution, or sometimes Lee's Resolution, was an act of the Second Continental Congress declaring the Thirteen Colonies to be independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain. It was proposed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia on June 1, 1776. Delegates from 12 colonies voted to pass it; however, delegates from New York believed that they had not been sufficiently empowered as representatives so they abstained (New York's vote for independence passed on July 9).

The motion was committed to an ad hoc committee of five consisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. Three weeks later the committee reported favorably, and the motion passed the Continental Congress on July 2 1776. It read:

Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

Included in the committee report was the Declaration of Independence which Thomas Jefferson had composed. After a number of alterations made from the floor of Congress, the Declaration was passed by the Continental Congress on July 4.

John Adams wrote his wife Abigail on July 3:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

However, few Americans today remember the Lee Resolution; and July 4, the date of the Declaration of Independence, is celebrated as Independence Day in the United States. Nonetheless the exact text of Lee's resolution of June 7, 1776—which passed on July 2nd—is immortalized in the Declaration of Independence, in its final paragraph.

Notes

Further reading

• Klos, Stan L. (2004). President Who? Forgotten Founders. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Evisum, Inc.. ISBN 0-9752627-5-0.

External links

• Text of Lee's Resolution
• Original Document Lee Resolution

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Last updated on Wednesday February 27, 2008 at 16:16:33 PST (GMT -0800)
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