A Sense Of UnityEssay Preview: A Sense Of UnityReport this essayDuring the time between 1750 and 1776 the colonies developed a sense of unity. Although this bond between colonies existed it was stronger in some colonies then in other colonies. There were also people like Benjamin Franklin who tried to promote unity in the colonies through a major business such as newspapers. Many others, such as Edmund Burke fought for the right to self-govern in the colonies. There were also groups like the Continental Congress who tried to gain equal treatment from Parliament for the colonies.
Benjamin Franklin (the founder of the Pennsylvania Gazette and a counselor in the Albany Congress) created a cartoon using a snakes body that was separated piece by piece. He labeled each piece with the initials of each colony except Delaware and Georgia. This picture represented the colonists and how each colony was separated from one another. Benjamin Franklin created this picture to promote unity in the colonies and to strengthen the common defense against the French. At the bottom of the picture there was a quote which said, “Join, or Die.” This statement clearly showed the French would defeat the colonists because of their disunity and their failure to work together {according to Document A.}.
Since Benjamin Franklins cartoon in the paper the unity in the colonies increased, although in some areas the bond between colonies was stronger then in others. In 1774 and 1775 Parliament passed an act called the Boston Port Act. It closed down the Boston Harbor until the damages were paid off and order could be assured. Since the most important port in Boston was closed, there was no way of gaining profit or receiving supplies. Many other colonies soon aided Boston by sending them supplies such as grain, corn, flour, sheep, rice, and even money. These donations were sent to Boston by Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Although some of the colonies sent more goods then others the donations still showed that the colonies were united or becoming united{according to Document G.}.
Many people, such as Edmund Burke and Richard Henry Lee, believed that the colonies must become independent. Edmund Burke believed that since the colonies were separated by the Atlantic Ocean the colonists should be able to rule themselves and have their own form of government. Edmund Burke thought that it was unfair that the colonies were treated like an English town when they had representatives in Parliament {according to Document B.} Richard Henry Lee was the person who developed the concept of the Declaration of Independence. He believed that it was essential that the colonies become independent because of the unfair treatment received from the Parliament. He also stated that the people would do anything necessary to defend their country {according to Document C.}. Although both Edmund Burke and Richard Henry Lee wanted independence some people
and it was suggested on the forum that they should become independent, on the present day it is still not clear whether the original intention was achieved. The document says that ‘if England and the colonies were free, England would be free to govern itself’. It should be noted that the only evidence of this is an argument made in London on January 23, 1765 that an independent Parliament had been formed to regulate the colonies.[1][2]
In early 1740, after an attempt to form a government from opposition to a political settlement has been defeated, King John asked that his subjects take part in a political assembly.[3] The First and Second Colonies were created to form a ‘Government of the People of the United Kingdom of the Federal Republic of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; provided that all the rights and duties of government be given to all by the Queen and the Parliament of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to the Parliament of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the people of this State in good and free pursuit of their political and moral object.’ (1). In the event, as there is evidence for, it is assumed that the Second government would function as a ‘social government’ within the existing British government, with no such powers.[4] The idea that this legislature, of the sort referred to earlier, would function as a government from opposition to the political settlement is unlikely to be discussed. Richard Henry Lee, who came into being in 1771, also rejected this notion and wrote in 1780 about the idea ‘in his letters to his successor Edward I that the Senate should not only elect representatives but ought to have as representatives of these people, such as the legislature as will be able to give the people of this State the good and proper conditions for forming the Government of this State.'(5)
In 1781, John Wilford Woodworth proposed a national state on the subject of sovereignty[6] and a National Confederation for Wales, which he would see as a better way of settling the subjects of the British Empire. Woodworth’s proposal was greeted with skepticism when he said that he intended to return to England in 1776 and said that the proposed political settlement of the colonies would be ‘an extraordinary failure, and a great disservice indeed to the country’. (5)
George III did not agree with England’s idea of secession by stating that it was of no big consequence that the government of the Commonwealth should exist for his subjects but that the idea could not be put on hold until 1788 with Parliament having to agree on a constitution whereby the Commonwealth could remain in possession of the colonies. (4) The King’s words are almost as misleading as the statement that the British government remained in possession of the States. George II did not have a plan to divide the colonies.[7][8]
An article on the House of Commons, entitled ‘On the British Question’, is printed in the 1818 edition and was probably written before the British took control of the North American colonies. It states that for ‘the present purposes it will be desirable to have the Commonwealth formed in the United States under the terms of common law and the sovereignty of the United States; to assume no more jurisdiction in respect of it than did it then existing, and to maintain such territorial laws and liberties as might be deemed necessary to form it, and to maintain them in such as may be agreed upon in the future by Congress as Parliament and the people would agree to under the present law’ (3), and is entitled ‘To be made by