This Month in
1776
July 1776 was a watershed moment in American history. The Second Continental Congress officially severed ties with Great Britain, adopting the Declaration of Independence and transforming a colonial rebellion into a fight for a new sovereign nation.
During this same time period, General Washington had moved his troops to New York City to confront the build-up of the British in the area. Both human and material resources were not optimal; there was much communication between Washington and Congress during these preparations.
Declaration of Independence
July 1: Cherokee attacked the southern frontier. Urged by British agents, Cherokee war chief Dragging Canoe led simultaneous attacks against Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia to halt the illegal encroachment of colonial settlers onto Native American lands.
July 2: The Second Continental Congress adopted the (Virginian Richard Henry) Lee Resolution in Philadelphia, voting in favor of declaring independence from Great Britain.
July 4: Congress formally adopted and ratified the Declaration of Independence, a document primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson.
July 6: The Declaration was first published for public access, appearing in the Pennsylvania Evening Post.
July 8: The first public readings of the Declaration of Independence took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Trenton, New Jersey.
July 9: General George Washington received word of the Declaration in New York City. He had it read aloud to his troops. That evening, local Patriots celebrated by tearing down a gilded lead statue of King George III at Bowling Green, which was later melted into bullets.
July 14: British brothers, General and Admiral Howe attempted to contact Washington to open negotiations; but Washington refused their letter which was addressed to "George Washington, Esq etc., etc." a form of address appropriate for a private gentleman rather than for the commander of an army.
July 14: On the western frontier in Kentucky, a Shawnee and Cherokee raiding party captured Daniel Boone’s daughter, Jemima, and two other girls near Boonesborough.
July 17: Daniel Boone and a group of settlers tracked down the raiding party and successfully rescued the captured girls, a local frontier event that diverted attention from the political milestones occurring on the East Coast.
July 18: The United States and the Mi'lmaq Nation signed a treaty of alliance and friendship. The Declaration enabled the new United States to negotiate treaties with foreign powers and, despite the slur against Indigenous people in the text of the Declaration, Congress remained eager to negotiate alliances with Native nations. Just over two weeks after July 4, "A Treaty of Alliance and Friendship entered into and concluded by and between the Governors of the State of Massachusetts Bay and the delegates of the St. John's and Mickmac Tribes of Indians" was signed in Watertown, Massachusetts with representatives of the Mi'kmaw and Wolastoqivik peoples.
July 19: Congress ordered the Declaration of Independence to be engrossed (officially handwritten) on parchment so it could be signed by the delegates. Signers from New York were: William Floyd. Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
July 21: Nathaniel Greene reported the movement of seven British ships from Sandy Hook to the Narrows. Hundreds of slaves and former enslaved were gathered on Staten Island to serve the British.
July 26: Due to the heat and delegates' fatigue, John Hancock adjourned Congress until the 29th.
July 28: Sickness among the troops prompted General Washington to address with regimental surgeons a better dietary and sanitary approach to the sick.
July 29: Washington's resources remained strained including musket powder. He ordered from Congress four or five tons of musket powder.
July 30: Washington was forced to address the unhealthy city's pump water supply. Officers would have to devise a better way to supply fresh water to the troops crowded in the city in the heat.