Documents and Declarations - Revolutionary War

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Revolutionary War ends April 15, 1783
On April 15, 1783, the Continental Congress signed preliminary articles of peace, ending the 7-year-long Revolutionary War. The French put pressure on the Americans to negotiate a package deal that would also end France's enmities with Great Britain. Spain and the Netherlands, also at war with the British, sought to be part of a grand bargain. Sentiment in Congress in Philadelphia was pro-French, but the Paris-based commissioners decided on their own that the European penchant for secret diplomacy, land swaps and sundry intrigues was not likely to ease a deal. So they acceded to British pressure to conclude a separate preliminary treaty.
by politico :: 2008-04-22 :: Documents and Declarations

Declaration of Independence coming to Minnesota
Minnesotans will get a chance to see an original copy of the Declaration of Independence - on display at the Minnesota History Center. The version of the Declaration on display is not hand-written, but a typed version that was printed out briefly after the Declaration was signed in 1776. "This was the version that was used to declare war; this was the version that was used to inspire the troops; this was the version that was used to inform the British; and this was the version that went out to the colonies to let people know that the Continental Congress had said 'enough is enough.'"
by publicradio.org :: 2008-04-03 :: Documents and Declarations

Secrets of the Great Seal of the United States revealed
The symbols of the Great Seal of the United States: the all-seeing eye, the unfinished pyramid, the Latin phrases, the bald eagle clutching an olive branch and arrows and the number 13. Historians say their meanings have been misidentified, misunderstood and misrepresented since the Continental Congress first ordered the Seal in 1776. It would be another 6 years before the original design was approved and another 128 before it developed into its current form. Along the way, a movement to decrypt the Seal's meaning with ancient Egyptian, mystical and otherwise otherworldly explanations has gained ground.
by foxnews.com :: 2008-02-15 :: Documents and Declarations

Three separate books examine the American Constitution
The Genius of America by Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes. A More Perfect Constitution by Larry J. Sabato. Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution, by Woody Holton. It was 220 years ago that a convention met in Philadelphia to make up what would become the Constitution of the United States of America. And now we have 3 new books turning up as if to mark a special occasion. By far the sunniest is "The Genius of America" - outlining the historical background of the Constitution, covering it as a compromise between the fiery democratic passions of Thomas Paine and the more tough-minded sensibility of James Madison.
by chicagotribune.com :: 2007-12-22 :: Documents and Declarations

Copy of the Declaration of Independence sold for $693,500
For decades, the Shrewsbury Historical Society combated with what to do with an evidently valuable, poster-sized copy of the Declaration of Independence. Unsure how to display the 231-year-old linen document and keep it safe, the society chose to keep the document locked in a safe, its existence mostly a secret outside of the core members. The society had held the document for perhaps 100 years in the glass frame, until they recently decided to sell it. The document was expected to sell for $70,000, members were shocked when a bidding war among 10 buyers led to a sale price of $693,500.
by telegram :: 2007-11-26 :: Documents and Declarations

July 4th and how it all started - Declaration of Independence Timeline
1774: Delegates from the 13 colonies arrive in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. April, 1775: King George's troops advance on Concord, Mass. Paul Revere makes his famous midnight ride, sounding the alarm of "the British are coming, the British are coming." The battle of Concord, known as "the shot heard around the world" marks the unofficial beginning of the American Revolution. May, 1776: After almost one year of trying to work out their differences, the colonies send - again - delegates to the Second Continental Congress.
by maysville-online :: 2007-07-01 :: Documents and Declarations

What some Weston Brits think about the 4th of July
The 4th of July is as American as apple pie. On that day in 1776, the U.S. claimed its independence from Britain. More than 200 years later, Americans still deck themselves out in patriotic red, white, and blue, and gather for parades and fireworks on the 4th of July. So how do the British feel about this holiday? Do they harbor ill will against the Colonists for winning the Revolutionary War? 4 Brits share their thoughts about the 4th of July and how the two cultures have found common ground after all these years.
by acorn-online :: 2007-06-29 :: Documents and Declarations

War records reveal America's past and military history
Military records of 90 million Americans who have fought in wars from the 1600s have been brought together online. The huge collection of documents (draft cards, photographs, POW records and news reels) is the work of history website Ancestry-dot-com. It hopes to help Americans uncover their ancestors' pasts, and to shed a little light on the America's history as it marks Memorial Day on 28 May. About a third of the records, 30 million names, are now visible for the first time on the internet. The chances of finding a relative are reasonable: with every American male aged 18-45 required to register for the WW1 draft, details were collected on 24 million people.
by bbc :: 2007-05-28 :: Documents and Declarations

Revolutionary War-era documents access is made easy
A Lindon company has made it possible for history buffs to research Revolutionary War-era documents without traveling to the National Archives. In partnership with the National Archives and Records Administration, Footnote.com gives online access to several collections of documents pertaining to the 13 American colonies establishing their independence from the British Empire. The collections include Revolutionary War service records and war rolls 1775-1783, papers of the Continental Congress and captured vessels of the Revolutionary War.
by highbeam.com :: 2007-05-04 :: Documents and Declarations

July 4 - The independence of the U.S.A.
When did the U.S. declare its independence from Great Britain? Incorrect answer: July 4, 1776. Correct answer: July 2, 1776. Reason: The delegates voted for independence on July 2; therefore, independence was effective immediately. However, the documentation had to be formalized, which took 2 more days. It was publicized on July 4. It is one thing to declare independence and another thing to achieve it. A long, bloody war was waged before the U.S. was able to defeat the British in a final victory in 1781. The Peace Treaty of 1783 officially made the U.S. independent in fact.
by theconservativevoice :: 2007-03-07 :: Documents and Declarations

Rare copies of three Revolutionary War-era documents lost
Rare copies of 3 Revolutionary War-era documents that formed the basis for the Constitution have vanished and are presumed lost or stolen after they were mailed to the lawyer for a wealthy Manhattan collector. Dorothy Tapper Goldman filed suit against her lawyer for $1.18 million, claiming he lost her copy of "The Federalist Papers," "The Quartering Act" and "The Address and Reasons of Dissent." The papers were loaned to the National Constitution Center for its opening on July 4, 2003 and returned on April 8, 2005.
by nypost :: 2007-01-23 :: Documents and Declarations

Earliest official copy of Declaration identified at state archives
"This is certainly one for the history books," exclaimed Secretary of State Karen Handel, announcing that an employee at the Georgia Archives has identified the earliest known official copy of the Declaration of Independence recorded in the State of Georgia. Greg Jarrell was looking for information to help a patron locate her Revolutionary War ancestor when he noticed a unique index entry: Declaration of the Independence of the United States. "I tracked down the original book and turned to the page and found that it was the Declaration as officially recorded by the state in 1777."
by theweekly :: 2007-01-21 :: Documents and Declarations

Declaration took several weeks to arrive down south
Today's information highway allows for instant communication all around the globe. So imagine waiting for news, like word of your colony's emancipation from its tyrannical, tea-taxing mother country. Such was the anxious wait by colonists in the Carolinas in general as "express riders" on horseback braved dark woods and narrow paths to deliver copies of our country's most important document after its signing on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia. Roads, mail routes and paths into the southern colonies from places like Philadelphia were inhospitable and hard to navigate. In many instances, they were old Indian trails or trading paths.
by wilmingtonstar :: 2007-01-06 :: Documents and Declarations

Top 5 Myths About the Fourth of July
#1 Independence Was Declared on the Fourth of July -- America's independence was actually declared by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. So what happened on the Glorious Fourth? The document justifying the act of Congress-you know it as Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence-was adopted on the fourth. John Adams, writing a letter home the day after independence was declared (i.e. July 3), predicted that from then on "the Second of July, 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival."
by hnn :: 2006-07-07 :: What-if and Myths

Revolutionary War News is an edited review of hand-picked news and articles related to American War of Independence 1775-1783.