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Declaration of Independence (USA)
(1,333 words)

1. Formation

The official declaration of American independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 was the end point of a long political and military confrontation with the British motherland (American Revolution). It was only in the spring of 1776, almost a year after the beginning of hostilities, that a broad discussion began, stimulated above all by Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense, to contemplate political separation. However, the representatives of the individual North American c…

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Keil, Hartmut, “Declaration of Independence (USA)”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_029235>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170626



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