Independence Day

With America as fractured as it is today in 2015, it is hard to imagine a similar group coming together in 1775 to wage war with one of the Greatest Empires to ever rule the world -- even harder to believe is this same rag-tag group would declare formal independence from the same. 

The Colonies came together because of years of slights, not one simple event nor act. Historians, in an effort to educate the masses, attempt to boil events down to easy to remember chunks - the Stamp Act, the Boston Tea Party - however this was far more complex and happened over years, not months. Few remember that 1775 began the American Revolution (not the declaration in 1776) and that the Whig party within the Empire was very liberal and very much on the Colonies side right up until all out War. We also forget, generally, the role the French played in securing American independence, and that if it hadn't been for the 7-Years War (1754-1763) between France and England, American would most likely still wear a crown.  And that during the time, less than 20% of the Colonists wished to revolt from the crown - as it was seen as a huge risk. We also tend to forget major players in the Declaration and focus entirely on the usual suspects - founding fathers, when in actuality two of the biggest primers for Independence were Richard Lee, whose motion in the 2nd Continental Congress on July 2 1776 all but demanded the paperwork on July 4th, and Thomas Paine's January 1776 writing of "Common Sense". It was this driving up of anger that bled into all out need for Independence, for at the end of the day it was a few rich individuals looking to get richer (Washington, Adams, Hancock, etc) that needed the common colonist to bear the brunt of the fight. 

At the end of it all, the true Revolution was a result of State Rights versus the Empires.

As could be seen later in the voices of those that didn't initially ratify the US Constitution, the battle for Independence was one of Individual State Rights over that of a Tyrannical Overlord. It was the continuous aggression of England on specific States, and very specific people, that drew up the fervor of Revolution. Something to consider in modern America when we see such angst between uber-Liberal Progressives and Staunch Conservatives. Try to fall on the rights side of History.