On This Day In 1776, Independence Had A Majority But Not Unity

ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE

• On This Day In 1776, Adams Saw The Cost Of Independence
• On This Day In 1776, Jefferson Had A Draft And Washington Had A Crisis
• On This Day In 1776, Washington Sent A Life Guard Member To The Gallows For Betrayal
• On This Day In 1776, Jefferson’s Draft Reached Congress As War Erupted
• On This Day In 1776, Britain’s Fleet Appeared Off New York
• On This Day In 1776, Britain’s Fleet Swelled Off New York As Washington Warned ‘Delays Are Dangerous’
• On This Day In 1776, Independence Had A Majority But Not Unity
• On This Day In 1776, Congress Held The Actual Vote For Independence
• On This Day In 1776, The Vote Was Done But The Declaration Was Not
• On This Day In 1776, The Declaration Went To Print
• On This Day In 1776, The Declaration Hit The Newspapers
• On This Day In 1776, The Declaration Kept Moving As Washington Braced For Attack
• On This Day In 1776, Washington’s Army Heard The Declaration And New York Tore Down The King
• On This Day In 1776, Washington Warned His Army Independence Was Not A License For Riot
• On This Day In 1776, Washington Warned The British Could Strike At Any Moment
• On This Day In 1776, British Warships Fired Their Way Past Washington’s Guns
• On This Day In 1776, Washington Refused A British Letter That Would Not Call Him General
• On This Day In 1776, Congress Rushed Supplies As British Warships Threatened The Hudson
• On This Day In 1776, Congress Approved The Declaration. Now Read It.
• On This Day In 1776, Washington And Franklin Rejected Britain’s Pardon Offer
• On This Day In 1776, Congress Ordered The Declaration Onto Parchment As Washington Built Defenses
• On This Day In 1776, Boston Burned The King’s Arms As America Looked Beyond Britain
• On This Day In 1776, Washington Called Britain’s Peace Commission A Deception
• On This Day In 1776, Congress Told Washington To Deploy Troops As He Saw Fit
• On This Day In 1776, Washington Said British Troops Fought ‘To Enslave Us’
• On This Day In 1776, Washington Warned ‘The Sick Must Perish’ If The Market Failed
• On This Day In 1776, British Ships Closed In As Washington Waited For Nearly 7,000 Troops
• On This Day In 1776, A Jewish Merchant Sent The Declaration To Europe
• On This Day In 1776, Washington Warned Soldiers Not To Drink New York’s Water
• On This Day In 1776, Washington Tightened Password Security As British Ships Arrived
• On This Day In 1776, Washington Warned Troops Their Divisions Helped The Enemy
• On This Day In 1776, America’s Founders Signed Their Names Beneath The Declaration

It was Monday, July 1, 1776.

Congress returned to the question it had delayed for weeks: whether the colonies should declare themselves free and independent states.

By the end of the day, independence had support from a majority of colonies.

But Congress had not taken the final vote.

South Carolina and Pennsylvania still opposed the break. Delaware split. New York still lacked instructions.

The final text of the Declaration would not be approved until July 4.

On July 1, Congress was still trying to turn a majority into a united decision.

The DX Brief

• Congress returned to the independence question on July 1, 1776.
• Maryland’s convention had freed its delegates to support independence.
• John Adams called it the “great Debate” and expected the measure to pass the next day.
• South Carolina and Pennsylvania opposed independence, Delaware split, and New York lacked instructions.
• Caesar Rodney, 47, began his ride to Philadelphia late that evening to help break Delaware’s deadlock.

Maryland finally came off the fence

Before Congress resumed debate, Maryland changed the mood in the room.

In a July 1 letter to Samuel Chase, John Adams, 40, wrote that Maryland’s “generous and unanimous Vote” reached Congress that morning just as delegates were entering the “great Debate.”

That mattered because Maryland had been one of the colonies holding back. Now its delegates could join the move toward independence.

The issue before Congress was Richard Henry Lee’s resolution. Lee, 44, had introduced it on June 7, declaring that the colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States,” according to the National Archives.

Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration was already nearby. Congress had received it June 28.

But July 1 was not about approving Jefferson’s final words.

It was about deciding whether the colonies would actually vote to break from Britain.

Adams saw the moment clearly

Adams knew the day mattered.

In a separate July 1 letter, Adams wrote to Archibald Bulloch, a Georgia Patriot leader and former Continental Congress delegate. Adams noted that Bulloch’s countrymen had placed him “at the Head of their Affairs,” but told him the mood in Philadelphia had changed since he left.

“There Seems to have been a great Change in the sentiments of the Colonies,” Adams wrote.

Then he turned to the day’s business.

“This Morning is assigned for the greatest Debate of all,” Adams wrote.

He said a declaration that the colonies were free and independent states had been reported by a committee, and that “this day or Tomorrow” would decide its fate.

“May Heaven prosper, the new born Republic,” Adams wrote.

Adams did not think the decision would make the war easier.

“We are in daily Expectation of an Armament before New York, where, if it comes the Conflict must be bloody,” he wrote.

Then came the clearest line.

“The Object is great which We have in View, and We must expect a great Expence of Blood to obtain it,” Adams wrote.

That is the Adams worth remembering on July 1. He saw the new republic coming, but he did not pretend it would arrive cheaply.

Dickinson made the case to wait

John Dickinson, 43, remained one of the strongest voices against immediate independence.

Dickinson had resisted British policy for years. He was not defending Parliament’s abuses. He believed Congress was moving too quickly without stronger foreign support and a finished plan of union.

Monticello notes that Dickinson feared a lack of allies and the absence of a central government would leave the colonies helpless. His warning was blunt: declaring independence while unprepared would be like braving “a storm in a skiff made of paper.”

Adams disagreed.

The debate was not ceremonial. Delegates were deciding whether to break with the most powerful empire in the world while British forces gathered for war.

Majority, but not unity

The committee of the whole backed independence on July 1.

Adams wrote Chase that the question carried “in the Affirmative” and was reported back to Congress. Then one colony asked for the matter to wait until the next day.

A note in the Adams Papers identifies that colony as South Carolina.

Adams expected the measure to pass July 2.

“Then it will pass by a great Majority, perhaps with almost Unanimity: yet I cannot promise this,” he wrote.

The broader alignment still had problems.

The Library of Congress’ Thomas Jefferson timeline says the July 1 vote found nine states in favor, South Carolina and Pennsylvania opposed, Delaware divided, and New York without instructions.

Independence had enough support to move forward.

Congress still did not have the united front it wanted.

Delaware needed Rodney

Delaware created one of the most dramatic problems of the day.

Its delegation split. Thomas McKean supported independence. George Read opposed it. Caesar Rodney, 47, was not in Philadelphia.

That meant Delaware could not deliver a clear vote.

The National Constitution Center says McKean sent word that Rodney’s vote was urgently needed, and Rodney set out for Philadelphia late on July 1.

That ride would matter the next day.

Rodney later wrote that he arrived in Congress “tho detained by thunder and rain” in time to give his voice for independence.

That set up the July 2 vote.

The majority was there.

The alignment was not.

Adams knew the cost

Adams did not expect the Declaration to spare the colonies from hardship.

In his letter to Chase, he wrote that Canada had brought “Misfortune and disgrace.” Transports had arrived at Sandy Hook. An attack on New York or New Jersey could come soon. The American army was “not So Strong as we could wish.”

Then Adams rejected any idea that a declaration would shield the colonies from what was coming.

“If you imagine that I expect this Declaration, will ward off, Calamities from this Country, you are much mistaken,” Adams wrote.

He expected bloodshed.

“A bloody Conflict We are destined to endure,” Adams wrote.

He also knew separation would not bring instant peace at home.

“If you imagine that I flatter myself, with Happiness and Halcyon days, after a Seperation from Great Britain, you are mistaken again,” he wrote.

But Adams still believed independence was worth the price.

“Freedom is a Counterballance for Poverty, Discord, and War, and more,” Adams wrote.

That was the tradeoff Adams saw.

The men pushing independence knew the cost. They were not pretending the Declaration would end the war.

They believed the cause justified the risk.

Why it mattered

July 1, 1776, was the day independence came close but had to wait.

Maryland comes over. Adams pressed the case. Dickinson warned against moving too fast. Delaware split. New York still lacked instructions. South Carolina and Pennsylvania had not yet joined the majority.

Congress had the votes moving its way.

It did not yet have unity.

That mattered because the colonies were not just passing another resolution. They were preparing to challenge the British Empire as a new people.

On July 1, Congress did not finish the job.

It set up the vote that would.

Tomorrow on Road to Independence

July 2, 1776: Congress voted for independence. John Adams believed that day, not July 4, would become America’s great anniversary.

Read yesterday’s installment: Britain’s Fleet Swelled Off New York As Washington Warned ‘Delays Are Dangerous.’