Responses to the Declaration came from overseas as well, and no international response was as important to the Continental Congress as that of potential allies and world powers France and Spain. These everyday people had many things in common with those celebrating independence, but they wanted no part of it themselves. The signers included farmers, merchants, and free people of African descent. Meanwhile, 547 Loyalists in New York signed a Declaration of Dependence, affirming their loyalty to the British Empire. He also disputed many of the grievances laid out in the Declaration, attempting to logically disprove them. In it he accused the Continental Congress of hypocrisy for suggesting that man’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness was inalienable while allowing so many enslaved people to be deprived of those same rights. Former Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson penned a rebuttal to the Declaration entitled Strictures Upon the Declaration of the Congress at Philadelphia. Some chose to publish their disagreements, citing what they considered to be lies and falsehoods in the document and disputing its logic. Many of them felt that the Continental Congress’ actions were illegal and did not represent the views of most American colonists.Īs the Declaration spread throughout the states, people began to analyze its words. They wanted to remain part of the British Empire for all the benefits it offered, political or moral stances they held, or a variety of other reasons. Loyalists, however, were distressed over how far Revolutionaries had gone. Now many felt they were no longer just thirteen separate colonies protesting, they were self-governing states united behind a worthy cause. The Declaration of Independence had helped them see how British policy had impacted colonists throughout North America. Others embraced the idea of independence and began to find common ground with fellow Revolutionaries that they did not think they had. Imagine what it must have felt like to join a movement with one goal, only to watch it change into a different, more drastic one. Some Revolutionaries were uneasy about this significant change. Protests to alter British policy had turned into full-blown rebellion. Regardless of what political position they held, they all felt the impact of the new goal of independence in some way.įor Revolutionaries, independence was a possibility that many had not expected or even considered as recently as a year before. Others simply hoped that they would escape the war without loss or suffering. When word of the decision on independence spread, Revolutionaries celebrated it while Loyalists considered it an act of betrayal.
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