Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
Avalon Project ^ | July 6, 1775 | Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson

Posted on 07/04/2026 1:28:13 PM PDT by Pelham

The July 4th 1776 Declaration of Independence wasn't the first important Declaration that Jefferson was involved in.

A year earlier, July 6th 1775, the Second Continental Congress had him write what amounts to a Declaration of War, which somehow never gets any attention.


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: 1775; arms; declaration; revolution

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you.

Grokipedia Summary:

https://grokipedia.com/page/Declaration_of_the_Causes_and_Necessity_of_Taking_Up_Arms

Text of the document:

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/arms.asp

1 posted on 07/04/2026 1:28:13 PM PDT by Pelham
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: wardaddy; ek_hornbeck

This is a must read for history nerds.


2 posted on 07/04/2026 1:29:33 PM PDT by Pelham (President Eisenhower. Operation Wetback 1953-54)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pelham

It gets a mention at the 3:30 mark of this clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09A6oY5cb0I


3 posted on 07/04/2026 2:06:53 PM PDT by EvilCapitalist (I wasn't expecting a kind of Spanish Inquisition.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EvilCapitalist

And that could be the most notice that it’s gotten in the following 50 years...


4 posted on 07/04/2026 2:43:47 PM PDT by Pelham (President Eisenhower. Operation Wetback 1953-54)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Pelham

April 19 1775...
.
The Shot Heard around the World ,

Lexington and Concord.
.
The taste of Grape Shot was
Being savored already.


5 posted on 07/04/2026 3:04:01 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (Good SCIENCE is Not Faith BUT Curiosity. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pelham
The Avalon Project is amazing. It carries the Constitutions of every state and the dates. The 13 original are important and how they reflect the Federal Constitution.

The 13 original colonies were told to write up their Constitutions...all prior to the Federal Constitution.

The Federal Constitution was approved conditionally....pending the addition of the Bill of Rights.

6 posted on 07/04/2026 3:17:26 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Big Red Badger; EvilCapitalist; Sacajaweau; wardaddy

If you’d like an outstanding book about that day, David Hackett Fischer’s ‘Paul Revere’s Ride’ is as good a history as there is.

https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Reveres-David-Hackett-Fischer/dp/0195098315/


7 posted on 07/04/2026 5:32:18 PM PDT by Pelham (President Eisenhower. Operation Wetback 1953-54)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Sacajaweau

“The 13 original colonies were told to write up their Constitutions...all prior to the Federal Constitution.”

One fun bet to make is “How many States were in the Union when the Constitution was ratified and George Washington took office as President?” and let your victim know it wasn’t 13. They will always add one or two more which is the wrong direction.

North Carolina and Rhode Island had reservations about the central government that the Constitution created. (so did George Mason who never endorsed it). And they didn’t ratify and so weren’t in the union when Washington took office. Just 11 States. This caused some consternation among the other States who weren’t sure if NC and RI were independent countries or just what. NC eventually ratified in November 1789 and RI in May 1790.


8 posted on 07/04/2026 5:49:46 PM PDT by Pelham (President Eisenhower. Operation Wetback 1953-54)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: sauropod

Bkmk


9 posted on 07/04/2026 5:50:46 PM PDT by sauropod (Make sure Satan has to climb over a lot of Scripture to get to you. John MacArthur Ne supra crepidam)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pelham

Thanks-We will check it out.
.
Can’t say how but I Was shown a book years ago that Was a Grade School library type written in the 1950s...since pulled.IIRC
“William Diamonds Drum”
I bought several copies on eBay cheap.
Had the Boston Redcoats marching to The Bridge and running for their Lives Back and many fine Details in between

Revere was only mentioned. The Political aspects were very interesting especially How it was Framed to encourage Patriots.
.
I visited The Bridge in 1996.
If Those Patriots could see us NOW
They’d Know it was Worth it- Amigo!
Thanks


10 posted on 07/04/2026 6:16:19 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (Good SCIENCE is Not Faith BUT Curiosity. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Pelham

Only nine states had to ratify it for it to become effective.


11 posted on 07/04/2026 6:24:05 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson