1776: The Year of Bright Hope for the American Colonies and for a World Yearning for Freedom

 Michael Streich

1776 was a year of bright hope, bitter defeat, and Christmas promise for American patriots hoping to sever political ties with Great Britain. The year began with Thomas Paine’s January 9^th publication of Common Sense and ended with George Washington’s morale boosting victory over Hessian mercenaries at the Battle of Trenton. But the highlight was the July Declaration of Independence, a document revered still today as the statement to the world of why government is of the people, by the people, and for the people.

 

The Independence Moment in America and for the World

 

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln referred to the Declaration of Independence as he commemorated the lives of Americans lost at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. In Lincoln’s words, it was the “honored dead” that impelled devotion to the truth cherished by all Americans, truths that included freedom and the fact that “all men are created equal.”

 

These truths are rooted in Thomas Jefferson’s timeless document that audaciously declared the freedom and independence of thirteen colonies of the British Empire following years of perceived unjust taxes and tyranny on the part of King George III. American independence would have to be won, however, and even the end of the Revolutionary War did not mean that the new nation had emerged successfully. That would be accomplished with the War of 1812.

 

Jefferson’s Declaration would inspire many independence movements throughout the world, into the 20^th Century, as indigenous peoples looked for successful models to emulate. Although global factors did not always match the same American example, it was the ideal of Jefferson’s Enlightenment perspectives that gave courage to even the smallest of colonies seeking self-determination.

 

Independence did not Translate into Battlefield Victory

 

The mere act of declaring independence did not awe the British or other European powers. France, for self-serving reasons, recognized the fledgling nation and provided support. The Dutch, according to historian Barbara Tuchman, were the first to officially recognize the sovereignty of the new nation.

 

One month after the Declaration, George Washington’s army was defeated in Long Island and driven across New Jersey. Washington himself was almost captured. British General William Howe defeated Washington several times in the New York area between September and November of 1776. The British would hold New York until the end of the war. By early December, the patriot cause appeared bleak.

 

1776 and the Christmas Promise

 

By December’s end, Washington crossed the Delaware River during terrible weather conditions. His ragtag army was in danger of falling apart. But he surprised a sizeable contingent of Hessian mercenaries at the Battle of Trenton. Washington’s victory ended the year on a positive note for the patriot cause. It was not enough to secure French support, however. That would come in 1777 after the patriot victory at Saratoga. But the Trenton victory demonstrated that colonial forces could defeat the British, albeit German hirelings.

 

The Year that Changed the World

 

1776 did change the world. Often in history, great events and ideas are not fully manifested until years after. The same can be said of 1776. The year has been etched into every American consciousness ever since because, as Lincoln recollected in 1863, it represented the creation moment for a “new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

 

Sources:

 

William R. Polk, The Birth of America: From Before Columbus to the Revolution (HarperCollins, 2006)

Page Smith, A New Age Now Begins: A People’s History of the American Revolution, Volume One (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1976)

Barbara W. Tuchman, The First Salute: A View of the American Revolution (Ballantine Books, 1988)

Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution (Alfred A. Knopf, 1992)

[First published in 2010. Copyright owned by Michael Streich. Reprinting only by written permission from the author]