Before Americans were American, they were British. Before Americans governed themselves, they were governed by a distant British king and a British Parliament in which they had no vote.
Before America was an independent state, it was a dependent colony. Before Americans expressed support for equality, their government and society were aristocratic and highly hierarchical.
These transformations were complex, but the changes owe a great deal to the Declaration of Independence of 1776, what has been properly termed “America’s mission statement.” (Monticello)
“The year 1776 is over. I am heartily glad of it, and hope you nor America will ever be plagued with such another.: (Letter to George Washington from George Morriss, Philadelphia, 1 January, 1777)
Washington shared that feeling. We celebrate 1776 as the most glorious year in American history; they remembered it as an agony, especially the “dark days” of autumn.
1776 was pivotal moments of American history, from the decision for independence to the military disasters that followed. In early December, British commanders believed they were very close to ending the rebellion, and American leaders feared that they might be right.
Yet three months later the mood had changed on both sides. By the spring of 1777 many British officers had concluded that they could never win the war. At the same time, Americans had recovered from their despair and were confident that they would not be defeated. (American Heritage)
Besides representative government, participatory politics, and popular sovereignty, Americans believed that public virtue (the subordination of self-interest to the common good) was absolutely essential in a democratic republic. Moreover, they felt that there could be no virtue in public life without corresponding virtue in private life. (NJ State Library)
Drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776 became the defining event in Thomas Jefferson’s life. Despite Jefferson’s desire to return to Virginia to help write that state’s constitution, the Continental Congress appointed him to the five-person committee for drafting a declaration of independence.
That committee subsequently assigned him the task of producing a draft document for its consideration. Drawing on documents, such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights, state and local calls for independence, and his own draft of a Virginia constitution, Jefferson wrote a stunning statement of the colonists’ right to rebel against the British government and establish their own based on the premise that all men are created equal and have the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Through the many revisions made by Jefferson, the committee, and then by Congress, Jefferson retained his prominent role in writing the defining document of the American Revolution and, indeed, of the United States.
Jefferson was justly proud of his role in writing the Declaration of Independence and skillfully defended his authorship of this hallowed document. (LOC) The Spirit of ‘76 is a patriotic sentiment referring to freedom begun by the Declaration of Independence.
To those who risked their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in behalf of American independence, Thomas Jefferson and his congressional colleagues promised the creation of a governmental system that would be “most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness” …
“… and derive its “just powers from the consent of the governed” as well as a social order in which all men would be “created equal” and enjoy the “unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The most important challenge to members of the revolutionary generation – indeed to subsequent generations of Americans – was translating Jefferson’s idealistic rhetoric into everyday reality.
And while the winning of independence took precedence at first over the creation of a republican society, the public record of the war years provides abundant information about the new order thoughtful Jerseymen were striving eventually to establish. (NJ State Library)
The principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence promised to lead America – and other nations on the globe – into a new era of freedom. The revolution begun by Americans on July 4, 1776, would never end.
It would inspire all peoples living under the burden of oppression and ignorance to open their eyes to the rights of mankind, to overturn the power of tyrants, and to declare the triumph of equality over inequality. (Monticello)
Thomas Jefferson recognized as much, preparing a letter for the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration less than two weeks before his death, he expressed his belief that the Declaration
“be to the world what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all.) the Signal of arousing men to burst the chains, under which Monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves,”
“and to assume the blessings & security of self government. the form which we have substituted restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. all eyes are opened, or opening to the rights of man.”
“the general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth that the mass of mankind has not been born, with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of god.”
“these are grounds of hope for others. for ourselves let the annual return of this day, for ever refresh our recollections of these rights and an undiminished devotion to them.” (Thomas Jefferson to Roger Chew Weightman, June 24, 1826. (Monticello))
One of the first instances of writing the phrase “Spirit of ‘76” was in a court case, Commonwealth V. Pullis (Philadelphia Mayor’s Court (1806)).
Spirit of ’76 Painting
One of America’s most iconic paintings – Spirit of ’76 – can be seen in the Selectmen’s Room at Abbot Hall at Marblehead, Massachusetts. Although a number of copies of the painting were subsequently created, this is the original. (Marblehead)
The Spirit of 76 is a painting that first went on display in 1876 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the United States declaring independence from Great Britain in 1776. It also celebrated the American Revolution and the people’s spirit of independence and love of their country.
The painting depicts a flag bearer, drummer boy and fifer marching across a battlefield during the American Revolution. The 8′ x 10′ oil painting was created by Archibald Willard at the suggestion of Cleveland photographer Jas. F. Ryder, who felt that a patriotic painting would be appropriate for showing at the 1876 US centennial exhibition in Philadelphia.
Originally entitled Yankee Doodle. Hugh Moser, a Civil War veteran and friend of Willard’s, posed as the fifer; Henry K. Devereux, son of Gen. John H. Devereux, another neighbor, served as the model for the drummer; and Willard’s father, Rev. Samuel Willard.
Click the following link to a general summary about the Spirit of 76:
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