1From George Washington to the Massachusetts General Court, 9 July 1776 (Washington Papers)
You will perceive by the Inclosed Declaration, which I have the honor to Transmit you, that Congress of late have been employed in deliberating on matters of the utmost Importance. Impelled by necessity and a repetition of Injuries unsufferable, without the most distant prospect of releif, they have asserted the claims of the American Colonies to the rights of Humanity and declared them Free...