The Declaration of Independence

1. By the time the Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776, the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain had been at war for more than a year. Relations between the colonies and the parent country had been deteriorating since the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763.

• True or False?

2. Parliament believed that these acts were a legitimate means of having the colonies pay their fair share of the costs to keep the colonies in the British Empire. What was NOT an act?

• Stamp Act of 1765

• Townshend Acts of 1767

• Stuart Acts of 1774

3. The issue of parliamentary sovereignty in the colonies became a crisis after Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774 to punish the Province of Massachusetts. What was the event?

• Boston Tea Party

• Boston Massacre

• Boycott of New York

4. Many colonists saw the Coercive Acts as a violation of the British Constitution and a threat to the liberties of all of British America. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress convened to coordinate a response. Where was the event held?

• Philadelphia

• Baltimore

• New York

5. When the Second Continental Congress convened at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia in May 1775, some delegates hoped for eventual independence, but no one yet advocated declaring it.

• True or False?

6. In January 1776, just as it became clear in the colonies that the king was not inclined to act as a conciliator, the pamphlet Common Sense was published. Who wrote the pamphlet?

• Thomas Jefferson

• Benjamin Franklin

• Thomas Paine

7. As was the custom, Congress appointed a committee to draft a preamble that would explain the purpose of the resolution. John Adams wrote the preamble, which stated that because King George had rejected reconciliation and was even hiring foreign mercenaries to use against the colonies, "it is necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the said crown should be totally suppressed". Everyone understood that Adams's preamble was meant to encourage the overthrow of the governments of Pennsylvania and Maryland, which were still under proprietary governance. Congress passed the preamble on May 15 after several days of debate, but four of the middle colonies voted against it. Adams regarded his May 15 preamble as effectively an American declaration of independence, although he knew that a formal declaration would still have to be made. What state walked out of the Congress in protest of Adam's preamble?

• New York

• Ohio

• Maryland

8. In accordance with those instructions, who presented a three-part resolution to Congress on June 7?

• Richard Henry Lee of Virginia

• Harry "Lighthouse" Lee of Virginia

• Patrick Henry of Virginia

9. On June 11, 1776, Congress appointed a "Committee of Five", consisting of Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut, to draft a declaration. Who was the fifth member of the committee?

• John Adams of Massachusetts

• Robert Morris of Pennsylvania

• John Hart of New Jersey

10. The resolution of independence had been adopted with twelve affirmative votes and one abstention. With this, the colonies had officially severed political ties with Great Britain. In a now-famous letter written to his wife on the following day, John Adams predicted that (the adoption of the independence resolution) would become a great American holiday. What was the date?

• July 2

• July 4

• July 8