Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms

Summary

On 6 July 1775, a year before the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress adopted A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms. The text is primarily the work of Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson, as later accounts and the Avalon source note record. It is not yet a declaration of independence. It explains why the colonies have closed, in the document’s words, with Britain’s last appeal from reason to arms, while still asking God to dispose their adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms and to relieve the empire from the calamities of civil war. The opening argument is moral and political. If it were possible to believe that the divine Author of our existence intended some people to hold unbounded power over others, the colonists might at least ask Parliament for evidence of such a grant. But reverence for the Creator, principles of humanity, and common sense, the authors say, must convince reflective people that government was instituted to promote the welfare of mankind. Parliament, they charge, has attempted to effect a cruel purpose of enslaving the colonies by violence. The practical choice is stated without ornament: “We are reduced to the alternative of chusing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force.” The declaration prefers resistance, and it adds, in a short sentence often quoted later, “Our cause is just.” The close is a prayer: with humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial Judge, Congress implores protection through the conflict and a disposition to reconciliation, not the destruction of Britain. Students should read this text beside the Olive Branch Petition, signed two days later on 8 July 1775. The same Congress, in the same week, both justified taking up arms and petitioned the king for redress. The pairing shows a dual strategy, not a simple march toward July 1776. Dickinson, already known for Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, was a principal author of both documents; Jefferson would, a year later, draft the Declaration of Independence. The library’s Founding Documents collection begins with 1776; this page supplies the 1775 justification of arms that collection does not include.

Plot or Argument

• Government and the welfare of mankind

  The opening denies that God gave any body an unbounded right to dominate others, and it says government exists to promote human welfare.

• The choice between submission and force

  Congress states that it is reduced to unconditional submission or resistance by force, and it affirms that its cause is just.

• A prayer for reconciliation

  The close asks God to protect the colonies through the conflict and to dispose their adversaries to peace, not to destroy the empire.

Characters

• Thomas Jefferson, co-author

  A Virginia delegate; later the principal draftsman of the 1776 Declaration of Independence.

• John Dickinson, co-author

  A Pennsylvania delegate, already known for Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, and principal author of the Olive Branch Petition two days later.

• The Second Continental Congress, adopting body

  Adopted the declaration at Philadelphia on 6 July 1775 in the name of the united colonies.

Lessons

• Not yet independence

  The text justifies taking up arms and still prays for reconciliation within the empire. It should not be read as if July 1776 had already arrived.

  • What does the declaration say it still hopes for?
  • How is this different from the 1776 Declaration of Independence?

• A stated alternative

  Congress names the alternative of unconditional submission or resistance by force. The sentence makes the moral claim of the document unmistakable.

  • Why might the authors reduce a complicated dispute to two alternatives?
  • What do they mean by calling their cause just?

• Two documents in one week

  Two days later the same Congress signed a petition to the king. The pairing is part of the meaning of each text.

  • Why issue both a justification of arms and a petition to the king?
  • How does Dickinson’s part in both documents affect the way we read them?

Context

By July 1775 fighting had already begun in Massachusetts, and the Continental Congress was organizing armed resistance while still addressing the king as a possible source of redress.

Composition

Adopted 6 July 1775. The Avalon text follows Charles C. Tansill, Documents Illustrative of the Formation of the Union of the American States (Government Printing Office, 1927). Avalon notes that the declaration is primarily the work of Jefferson and Dickinson.

Reception

The declaration was meant to explain the colonial recourse to arms to the public and to the world. It was overtaken, but not erased, by the decision for independence a year later.

Comparisons

• The Olive Branch Petition

  The petition to the king, signed two days later, is the companion appeal for redress from the same Congress that had just justified taking up arms.

• The Founding Documents

  The 1776 Declaration of Independence, hosted in the library’s Founding Documents collection, goes further than this 1775 text by announcing a new nation.

• Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania

  Dickinson’s earlier Farmer letters already argued against parliamentary taxation without collapsing the argument into a call for independence.

• Notes on the State of Virginia, Selected Letters, and The Jefferson Bible

  Jefferson, a co-author here, would the next year draft the Declaration of Independence; his later writings help students see the development of his political language.

• Thoughts on Government and Selected Letters

  John Adams, a colleague in Congress, was already urging firmer measures; his writings show another voice within the same assembly.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The claim that government exists for human welfare.
• The alternative of unconditional submission or resistance by force.
• The short sentence “Our cause is just.”
• The closing prayer for reconciliation, not for the ruin of Britain.

Key terms and names

United colonies

The colonies acting together in 1775, before they declared themselves independent states.

Unconditional submission

Surrender without terms, which the declaration refuses.

Reconciliation

A settlement that would restore peace within the empire on reasonable terms.

Civil war

The declaration’s own name for the conflict it still hopes to relieve.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension When was this declaration adopted, and what does its title say it will set forth?
2. Comprehension What two alternatives does Congress say it is reduced to?
3. Comprehension Who were the principal authors, according to the source note, and how does this text differ in aim from the 1776 Declaration?
4. Interpretation Why does the close still pray for reconciliation if the colonies have already taken up arms?
5. Interpretation How does the language of a just cause differ from a declaration of independence?
6. Big Question Can a people justify armed resistance while still seeking to remain in a political union? What does this text suggest?

Faith Connections

• Romans 13:1–4 (Scripture)

  Paul’s teaching on civil authority is often raised when Christians discuss resistance; this declaration appeals to the welfare of mankind and to God’s judgment rather than to a simple right of rebellion.

• Psalm 7:8–9 (Scripture)

  The close’s appeal to an impartial Judge may be compared with biblical language of God judging righteously, without treating the psalm as a political program.

• The Olive Branch Petition (8 July 1775) (Great Conversation)

  The petition signed two days later is the necessary companion to this justification of arms.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Because Parliament has chosen violence rather than a lawful care for the colonies’ welfare, the united colonies may take up arms, while still asking God for a just peace.

Rhetorical device: stated alternative. The sentence that reduces the choice to unconditional submission or resistance by force gives the argument its sharpest form.

Debate: Resolved: that the 1775 Declaration of Causes is better read as a justification of defensive war than as a first draft of independence.

Memory Work

We are reduced to the alternative of chusing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force.

Our cause is just.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Show how the 6 July 1775 declaration justifies taking up arms without announcing a new nation. Quote the alternative of submission or force and the closing prayer.

Comparison with The Olive Branch Petition: Compare the Declaration of Causes (6 July) with the Olive Branch Petition (8 July). What does each document ask for, and how can the same Congress issue both in one week?

Creative Prompts

• Essay

  Explain how this declaration justifies arms without yet declaring independence. Use at least three exact phrases from the text.

• Classroom

  Place this declaration and the Olive Branch Petition side by side and list what each document asks of the king, of Parliament, and of God.

• Dialogue

  Write a conversation of 8 July 1775 between Jefferson and Dickinson about why Congress should issue both a justification of arms and a petition to the king.

Further Reading

• The Olive Branch Petition, Continental Congress

  The companion petition to the king, signed two days later, now also in the library.

• The Founding Documents, Continental Congress and United States Constitutional Convention

  The library collection that begins with the 1776 Declaration of Independence.

• Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, John Dickinson

  Dickinson’s earlier public letters on colonial rights and parliamentary power.