Beginning of Essay
On July 2, 1776, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson finished the final draft of their Declaration of Independence. Two days later, on July 4, delegates from the Continental Congress passed the declaration unanim ....

Middle of Essay
.... laws of immediate and pressing importance," quartering "large bodies of armed troops" among people in the New world and for "imposing taxes on us without our consent." Finally the Continental Congress began the process of applying these principles when the declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776. After this, the Congress sent the document to the printer. Then, by the end of 1776, independent governments were functioning in every state except Georgia and New York. Each new state government had three branches: an executive branch, a legislature, and a court system. Most state constitutions guaranteed certain inalienable rights that the gover ....