The American Revolution: Saying Goodbye to Mother

By Peter Cameron
July 2026

Two hundred and fifty years ago, on June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, a delegate to the Second Continental Congress from Virginia, formally proposed to that body, meeting in Philadelphia, that it should declare independence from Great Britain. For the first time, the Congress agreed with him.

The Second Continental Congress appointed a committee of five members, Thomas Jefferson (Va.), John Adams (Mass.), Benjamin Franklin (Penn.), Roger Sherman (Conn.), and Robert Livingston (NY), to write a document severing ties with the King. The committee chose to list the reasons why they were taking these actions in the document. Jefferson, the primary writer, elegantly laid out the grievances the colonies had with Great Britain. The document was taken back several times to the Continental Congress, where word choices were debated and corrections made. After days of debate on July 2, 1776, the details of the document were pounded out in a draft document. 

The body reconvened on July 4 for the purpose of ratifying the document, but many delegates were insisting on further changes. The day was stifling and delegates opened the windows to let in a breeze. A hoard of horseflies invaded the hall and descended on the delegates, buzzing and biting. The flies were just too much. What had looked like a long, sweaty session soon dissolved into a quick vote on the document as it stood. The vote was 12 in favor, with New York abstaining because it had not received instructions from its leaders. The motion passed. We now know the document as the Declaration of Independence. It was quickly reprinted and throughout the next several weeks, publicly read in every town and village. We had formally cut ties with Mother England.

While this was taking place, George Washington was attempting to save New York City from a British invasion. He failed miserably in Brooklyn, White Plains, and New Jersey. New York fell to the British. After these crushing defeats, Washington moved south, attempting to safeguard Philadelphia. So ended 1776.

During the spring of 1777, the British solidified their hold on the NYC area and kept the pressure on Philadelphia. Elsewhere, on June 14, the Continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the flag of the new country.

There was another British campaign taking shape that would change the trajectory of the war. British General Burgoyne was mounting an invasion down the Hudson River Valley from Montreal. As he moved southward, he captured Fort Ticonderoga. His mission was to get to Albany where he was to meet the British flotilla sailing up the river from NYC. This would isolate New England from the other colonies. Patriot soldiers set up delaying actions, cutting trees across trails, diverting brooks, flooding trails, and setting up hit-and-run ambushes. In this, they were hugely successful in slowing the British while slowly whittling down their forces. 

Meanwhile, in Saratoga, a small town north of Albany, the patriots were building huge defensive works to block this British advance. Burgoyne, now critically short of supplies, dispatched 800 Hessian mercenaries to Bennington, Vermont, to raid a patriot supply depot. The patriots intercepted this force, defeating it and capturing most of the soldiers. Burgoyne came into Saratoga short on supplies, short on manpower, and right into the patriot strongpoint.

On September 19, 1777, after 3 days of fierce fighting, General Burgoyne surrendered his force of almost 6000 men and equipment to the Patriots. The first big victory for our fledgling army. More importantly, the crushing British defeat assured France that the cause of the patriots was sound, and France declared war on England, becoming the patriots’ military ally.

Next month: “The War Drags On”