Toward Independence

The processes and events that led to independence, including acts of the Continental Congress, elite opinion, early Declarations of Independence, and the impact of the Declaration are all included here.

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• British reactions: reactions in Britain and among Loyalists to the Declaration of Independence.
• Continental Congress: actions of Congress that led to independence.
• Declaration of Independence: texts and debates over the Declaration.
• Disseminating Declaration of Independence: the spread of knowledge of the Declaration from Philadelphia to the Army and populace.
• Elite opinion: views of opinion-makers, pro- and- con, about the Declaration.
• Local/state declarations, real and imagined: declarations of independence made in towns, counties, and states prior to the national declaration; political activity later construed (inappropriately) to be declarations.