Now that it was done, the Continental Congress decided to send a copy to George Washington and on July 6, John Hancock wrote a letter sending it with the first printed copy to the General in Manhattan. Prior to that, Jefferson went to John Dunlap, a local printer and had 200 copies of the Declaration printed for disbursement throughout the colonies. Then Congress got down to the business of continuing the revolution.
Washington rode into the middle of the gathering of troops and read the Declaration. The jubilation that accompanied the news of the creation of a new Nation was to be short for General Howe had already moved into position to come up the Hudson. As Thomas Mifflin, the Adjutant General said, “My lads, the Rubicon is crossed.”
It’s hard to imagine cannon fire and battles in New York, but after Howe’s ships sailed past rebel defenses, families fled from the river areas and soon there would be more than 30,000 troops under his command ready to seize New York. Jubilation soon turned to the hard work of securing independency, as John Adams called it. It still is.
Prayer for the Day
Wandering in a wilderness of our own making, we come, O God,
For both discernment and a renewed commitment of who we are;
Besieged by divisions that result in unbridled anger toward others,
We need to remember that we are called to be your people.
Bestow on us, O Lord, a renewed commitment to justice and mercy,
And help us to remember that we need to grant your grace to all.
In the name of him who is the instrument of your grace,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Let America be America again, let it be the dream it used to be…
Langston Hughes, American poet (1901-1967)
O Land, the measure of our prayers…
Julia Ward Howe, from her poem Our Country (1861) (1819-1910)
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes or I will sleep the sleep of death
Psalm 13:3