Town of Malden, Massachusetts, Instructions for a Declaration of Independence (May 27, 1776)
Editor’s note: A little over a month before the heady day of July 4, 1776, no longer interested in trying to patch things up with Britain — “we have reason to think that it would be fatal to the liberties of America” — the town of Malden, MA, instructs its representative “to give [the Second […]
Declaration for Independence by the Inhabitants of Alford, Mass. — June 7, 1776
Editor’s note: This is what one might call a conditional declaration of independence — if the Second Continental Congress decides to sever ties with Britain, then the town of Alford, in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, “will support the measure with their lives and fortunes.” Declaration for Independence by the Inhabitants of Alford ALFORD, BERKSHIRE COUNTY (Mass.) At […]
Instructions for Independence by the Inhabitants of Palmer, Hampshire County, MA (June 17, 1776)
Editor’s note: What with Britain “being bent on her favourite scheme of enslaving the Colonies,” the inhabitants of this Massachusetts town, on June 17, 1776, instructed their Representative to communicate to the Second Continental Congress that they deem it “absolutely necessary for the safety of the United Colonies to be independent from Great Britain, and […]
Declaration of Independence – Town of Wrentham, Mass. (June 5, 1776)
Editor’s Note: This eloquent declaration was issued by the denizens of Wrentham, MA, who possessed a “zeal for the common rights of mankind,” and were dismayed that the same “spirit of oppression” that prompted them to leave Britain in the first place has now pursued them in their new habitat.” And so they declared themselves “independent […]
Gageborough, MA, Declaration of Independence from Britain (June 7, 1776)
Editor’s Note: Prizing both brevity and independence as virtues in composition, Gageborough, MA, joins the 1776 declaration bandwagon on June, 7, 1776 Gageborough, MA, Declaration of Independence At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Gageborough, agreeable to a resolve of the House of Representatives, of June 7, 1776, requesting the several Towns […]
Natick, MA, Declaration of Independence, June 20, 1776
Editor’s Note: Short and sweet, this declaration of independence from Britain, by the town of Natick, Massachusetts, preceded our July 4, 1776 Declaration by a little over two weeks. The concise document packs quite a punch, slamming Britain for “the glaring impropriety, incapacity, and fatal tendency… at the distance of three thousand miles, to legislate […]
