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chief governing body in the country. The authority of this body of men was, therefore, chiefly due to four things: the character of the men who composed it, the circumstances under which they met, the direct support of the assemblies, and the confidence of the people.

After spending a month in careful investigation and discussion of public matters, Congress decided to assume the direction and control of them. It formally adopted the troops about Boston as the continental army, and chose one of its own members as commander-in-chief. The motion was made by John Adams of Massachusetts, and George Washington was unanimously elected. He had distinguished himself in the French war, but he was not chosen simply because of this or because of his high character, but also because he came from the most populous colony, and because he possessed the confidence of its leading men, and would thus bring powerful support to the common cause. He accepted the appointment on June 16th in a modest speech, and with his habitual promptness, was on the way to Boston five days later. He had ridden scarcely two hours from Philadelphia before he was met by great news.

General William Howe with more regiments had arrived in Boston the last of April, and had taken command. The first thing for him to do was to gain possession of all the approaches to the city and all controlling points. Behind Charlestown rose two small hills, known as Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill, the latter nearer the town, and the arm of the bay separating it from Boston. These hills commanded both towns and the bay. Howe prepared to take possession of them. Knowing his purpose, the Americans forestalled him by sending Colonel Prescott, with twelve hundred men, early on the night of June 16, to fortify Bunker Hill. He passed on and threw up earthworks on Breed's Hill, which was almost in musket range of the British ships.

Howe quickly detected the danger he was in from Prescott's position. In the morning, paying no attention to the cannon-balls whistling among them from the ships, the Americans completed their earthworks, and also built outer

intrenchments, southward from the hill, well to the water's edge. Promptly Howe prepared to drive out the patriots. Twenty-five hundred regulars were landed at the foot of the hill and ordered to take the works by storm. Up the steep and rocky hill they poured like a flame. "Wait till you see the whites of their eyes," was Prescott's order, "then fire." When they were within a rifle's length, out poured a volley. Scores of the British lay dead in windrows; but the greater part were in full flight down the hill. Their officers rallied them, put them into order with their swords, and charged again. Another deadly volley, another flight to the water's edge. Again they rallied; again they reached the intrenchments, but only a few shots were fired; the Americans had exhausted their ammunition. They clubbed their muskets and beat back the enemy; they hurled stones and fought hand to hand; but overpowered by numbers, exhausted by their digging all night and fighting all day, they began to retreat, and the British held the hill. But a thousand British soldiers lay dead. This was the news that met Washington. What though Howe had caused Charleston to be fired during the fight, and it had been destroyed; or that Prescott had been beaten back? The patriots had proved themselves good fighters. Washington was satisfied with this fact. The battle of Bunker Hill, as it was called, encouraged the Americans everywhere. Had there been powder and ball in plenty, they said, Howe's troops would never have reached the top of the hill. So Prescott's defeat was equal to a victory, after all.

Beneath a noble elm-tree which still stands at Cambridge, Washington took command of the continental army on July 3, 1775. He saw before him brave men, about fifteen thousand of the youth of New England, each with his flint-lock and powder-horn, and a few wearing the dress of militiamen. This motley company must be trained and equipped to fight the British regulars, "the first soldiers of Europe."

Making his headquarters in the noble mansion famed in after years as the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Washington spent nearly nine months, not only in drilling his army, but in co-operating with Congress in organizing

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the military department, in collecting all kinds of supplies, and in keeping the British army, meanwhile, closely shut up in Boston.

Though Congress had adopted an army and appointed a commander-in-chief, and Bunker Hill had been fought, the majority of its members still hoped and looked for peace. Once more it prepared and in August sent forth a petition to the king, but he refused even to look at it. He proclaimed the Americans "rebels," and he issued orders for troops to put down the rebellion. Enough Englishmen did not volunteer, and he hired troops, about twenty thousand in all, from several German princes, of whom the Duke of Brunswick, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, supplied the greater part. When this news reached America, it put an end to all ideas of reconciliation. What could be expected of a king who would hire foreigners to fight his own subjects? The name "Hessian" became hateful to Americans; and as the king's conduct became known to them, independence began openly to be discussed.

The importance of Quebec during the French wars, the refusal of the Canadians to join with the other colonists, and the danger that Sir Guy Carleton, governor of Canada, might invade New York over the old route by Lake Champlain, led Congress to send two expeditions into Canada. General Richard Montgomery led one, by the way of the lake, and captured Montreal. Benedict Arnold, starting from Boston, made a forced march through the Maine wilderness, and after incredible hardships his men reached Quebec in the heart of winter, and were joined by Montgomery. On the night of December 31, they assaulted the city and forced an entrance. Montgomery was killed, Arnold was badly wounded, and the attack failed. The Americans were forced to retreat, and no more expeditions were made into Canada.

South of Boston lay Dorchester Heights. After due preparation, Washington, in March, boldly seized and fortified them, and had Boston at his mercy. Rather than repeat the costly experiment of Bunker Hill, Howe evacuated the city on March 17, 1776, and sailed with his army to Halifax. The people of New England had fought for

their rights successfully. Distinguished generals and troops sent to conquer them had been forced to flee. The four New England colonies were now independent of king and Parliament. But General Howe was not likely to remain long in Halifax. As Washington believed that New York would be the next point of attack, he moved his army to the Brooklyn Hills and intrenched there to defend the city.

Howe's flight removed all doubt in New England of the right and the success of independence. In the middle colonies, feeling was less intense. In the southern colonies, opinion was much divided. The Tories were strong, especially in New York, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. But the king's policy had weakened them. Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, after failing to raise an insurrection of the slaves, was driven away, but before he sailed for England the fleet to which he had fled burned Norfolk. This revengeful act converted many Virginians into Americans. During May and June, the assemblies of New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Virginia declared that by the act of the king in proclaiming the Americans rebels, in closing their ports and hiring soldiers to fight them, the colonies were left without a government. As New Jersey expressed it, in its constitution adopted at Burlington in July, 1776, the king had violated the compact of government, and his authority was at an end. So the thirteen colonies declared that they were henceforth "free and independent states.

On the 15th of May, Congress came to a like conclusion, and in reply to requests for advice from some colonies, it advised all to form state governments for themselves. When the Ist of June came, everybody felt that the necessity for independence was no longer a matter for discussion. There only remained the question, When is the best time to declare it? On the 7th of June, Richard Henry Lee offered a memorable resolution in Congress, which was seconded by John Adams, "that these United Colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved." Lee

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had been instructed by the Virginia Assembly to make such a motion, and John Adams had been advocating independence for months. The resolution was favored by nearly every member, and carried July 2. A committee of five was elected to prepare a declaration. It consisted of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingstone. Two years before, Jefferson had written a paper declaring the rights of the colonies which had attracted much attention both in America and in England. He was known to be an accomplished political writer, and at the common request of the committee, of which he was chairman, he consented to write the draft. With slight change, it was adopted on the 4th of July.

The Declaration of Independence contained several ideas upon which no nation had ever before attempted to found a government; namely, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the people have the right to adopt any form of government they choose. On this foundation of new political truths the people of the United States founded their government.

Copies of the Declaration were sent to all the states. As it was made in Philadelphia, the people of that city were the first to know its contents. The bell in the State House tower rang out the glad news: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Everywhere the Declaration was received with demonstrations of joy. It was read to the continental army; it was engrossed on the minutes of the assemblies; it was made a part of state constitutions, and was published with the laws.

Congress had issued the Declaration; the people had indorsed it. Would they support it with their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor?