On the Road to
Independence: June 28, 1776
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Committee of Five (John
Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of
Virginia, Robert Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut), who
had been appointed by the Second Continental Congress to create a declaration
of independence from Great Britain, presented their draft of the document to
Congress, where it was read aloud to the delegates present. The Declaration was first composed by Thomas
Jefferson then edited by Adams and Franklin before going to the entire
Committee of Five for more editing. It
was the Committee’s finished document that was presented to the Congress. Congress hadn’t decided that they wanted
independence yet, but thought it best to be prepared. (Who
got to read it aloud, I wonder?
Jefferson was a notoriously bad public speaker.)
On the same day, in New York City, currently occupied by the
Continental Army, though the British fleet was expected to arrive any moment,
Thomas Hickey, a member of General Washington’s Life Guard, was hanged before
the assembled army and many civilians, on charges of treason, mutiny and
sedition. The Life Guard had been
created several months earlier to protect General George Washington and his
staff, any documents they generated, as well as the money to pay the troops. Hickey was originally arrested, with another
member of the Life Guard, for passing counterfeit money. Unfortunately for Hickey, he and his
fellow-conspirator couldn’t refrain from talking about a larger plot that
involved deserting to the British and bribing their fellow soldiers to join
them, as well as destroying Colonial arms, and perhaps even kidnapping and/or
killing Washington and his staff when the British fleet arrived in New York. Loose lips sink conspiracies as well as
ships, as Hickey discovered to his rue.
Further south, outside the harbor of Charleston, South
Carolina, a small fleet of British ships, under the command of Admiral Sir
Peter Parker (an ancestor of Spiderman) attempted to invade that city
by way of two islands lying outside the harbor - Long Island and Sullivan’s
Island. A land force commanded by
General Henry Clinton was dropped off on Long Island to wade across the narrow
channel to Sullivan’s Island to assault its incomplete fort, while the fleet
under Admiral Parker would bombard the fort from the sea. Sadly, the landing party found the channel
was a bit too deep for wading and had to be retrieved. Then the British fleet discovered it was ever
so slightly out of range of the fort, and the shots that did connect were
simply absorbed by the soft palmetto wood of its construction. The guns of Fort Sullivan, however, proved distressingly
accurate, and after a day of withering fire the British fleet decided that
discretion was the better part of valor, and withdrew to join the main fleet
bearing down on New York City. Fort
Sullivan was later renamed Fort Moultrie after its heroic commanding officer,
and 85 years later would play a major part in another American war. But that’s another story.
Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present.
from George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior
