Cast

Benjamin Franklin

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN sailed for London in 1764 proudly proclaiming, “I am a Briton.” During the ensuing decade, he soured on the mother country as a result of the “extreme corruption . . . in this old rotten state.” When he returned home in1775, Franklin favored American independence, fearing that Britain would “drag us after them in all the plundering wars which their desperate circumstances, injustice, and rapacity may prompt them to undertake.”

Lord North

LORD NORTH headed the ministry in London from 1770 through 1776, and beyond. He inherited the imperial crisis, but given his intransigent opposition to negotiation and compromise, the course North pursued led to war. Speaking in 1774 of the necessity to take a hard line toward the colonies, North said: “We must decide whether we will govern America or whether we will bid adieu to it, and give it that perfect liberty.” North’s answer: His government would “act with authority . . . to preserve America as a subject country to Great Britain.”

John Dickinson

JOHN DICKINSON led the faction in Congress that sought to reconcile with Great Britain and avoid American independence. However, Dickinson steadfastly insisted that reconciliation must occur on America’s terms. During the final congressional debate on independence on July 1, 1776, Dickinson spoke against breaking with Britain, though he acknowledged that his stance would “give the finishing Blow to my once too great, and [now] . . . too diminish’d Popularity.”

George III

GEORGE III was Britain’ s monarch during and after the imperial crisis. From the outset, the king took the position that “any other conduct but compelling obedience would be ruinous.” In 1775, he decreed that the colonists were in “open and avowed rebellion” by “traitorously preparing, ordering, and levying war against us.” He pledged to suppress the colonial rebellion and promised “condign punishment” for the rebels.

Thomas Paine

THOMAS PAINE was the author of Common Sense, the first pamphlet to advocate American independence. Published in January 1776, the tract asserted that the colonies had nothing to gain through reconciliation, whereas independence would lead to American peace and prosperity. “’TIS TIME TO PART,” he wrote.

The Committee of Five

THE COMMITTEE OF FIVE was appointed by Congress on June 11, 1776, to prepare a document proclaiming American independence. Shown in this nineteenth century painting by John Trumbull, the committee included (left to right), John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin

John Adams

JOHN ADAMS led the faction in the Continental Congress that favored breaking with Great Britain, and also served on the Committee of Five that Congress created to draft the Declaration of Independence. Once declared, Adams predicted that independence “will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated . . . with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of the Continent to the other from this Time Forward forever more.”

Edmund Burke

EDMUND BURKE was the member of the House of Commons who led the fight against the hard line that Lord North's government took toward the colonies. Burke urged compromise and negotiation, arguing that inflexibility would mean war and the loss of Britain's American empire. On the eve of war he spoke on the floor of the Commons, saying: "The proposition is peace. Not peace through the medium of war; not peace to be hunted through the labyrinth of intricate and endless negotiations. . . . It is simple peace." Reconcile with America, he added, and the colonists "will cling and grapple to you, and no force under heaven will be of power to tear them from their allegiance" to Great Britain.

Pennsylvania State House

PENNSYLVANIA STATE HOUSE was the meeting site of the Continental Congress from May 1775 through July 4, 1776, and beyond. Built over a quarter century beginning in 1729, it was located in Philadelphia and served as the home of the Pennsylvania assembly before and during the American Revolution. Today it is known as Independence Hall.