DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 1735 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



The proof shows clearly that 15.00, and not 

 15, was the form of the product; and that 

 form must be restored so that we may divide. 



Let us look at it first from the view of mul- 

 tiplication, and then division: 



144 



.25 36-f-.25=n 



720 

 288 



36.00 



Restore the two zeros that we discarded, and 

 we have 36.00-^.25 = 144. 



To sum up: When a product ends in deci- 

 mal zeros, these zeros may be cut off, but 



when this product is brought to view again 

 as a dividend, the discarded zeros must be 

 restored before division is performed. In the 

 language of arithmetic: The dividend must 

 have at least as many decimal places as the 

 divisor before we begin to divide, and if it has 

 not, we must add the required number of 

 decimal zeros. For example : 



18 .006 = 18.000 .006 = 3000 



1.8 .006= 1.800 .006= 300 



.18-. 006= .180-. 006= 30 



225- .15 = 225.00- .15 = 1500. 



7000 1.4 = 7000.0 1.4 = 5000 



A.H. 





ECLARA'TION OF INDEPEND'- 

 ENCE, a famous historic document, which, 

 adopted by the Continental Congress on July 

 4, 1776, proclaimed to the world the inde- 

 pendence of the thirteen colonies of Great 

 Britain in America, and marked the birth of 

 a new nation. When this Declaration was 

 passed, actual warfare to drive out the forces 

 of the mother country had already begun. 

 The battles of Lexington and Concord and of 

 Bunker Hill had been fought, Ticonderoga 

 and Crown Point had been wrested from the 

 British, Washington had been appointed com- 

 mander-in-chief of the army, and the last futile 

 petition had been sent to King George III. 

 The spirit of independence was abroad. 



Lee's Memorable Resolution. Early in 1776, 

 several delegates to Congress, which was in 

 session in Philadelphia, were instructed by the 

 patriots whom they represented to vote for 

 a formal statement of independence, and Mas- 

 sachusetts, New Hampshire and South Caro- 

 lina had previously set up independent colonial 

 governments. On May 15 Congress adopted a 

 resolution advising all the other colonies to 

 follow the example of the three, and the way 

 was therefore paved for the famous resolution 

 of Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, who moved 

 on June 7: 



That these United Colonies are, and of right 

 ought to be, free and independent States ; that 

 they are absolved from all allegiance to the Brit- 



ish Crown, and that all political connection be- 

 tween them and the State of Great Britain is, and 

 ought to be, totally dissolved ; 



That it is expedient forthwith to take the most 

 effectual measures for forming foreign alliances ; 



That a plan of confederation be prepared and 

 transmitted to the respective colonies for their 

 consideration and approbation. 



These motions were at once seconded by 

 John Adams of Massachusetts, and were de- 

 bated on June 8 and 10, but action thereon 

 was postponed until all the colonies could act. 



The Committee on Declaration. On June 10 

 a committee was appointed "to prepare a Dec- 

 laration to the effect of the first said resolu- 

 tion." On this committee were some of the 

 most illustrious men of the period Thomas 

 Jefferson, its chairman, and his four able assist- 

 ants, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger 

 Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. The com- 

 mittee made its report on June 28. 



The Final Steps. On July 1 the considera- 

 tion of Lee's resolution was renewed, Congress 

 forming itself into a committee of the whole 

 and sitting with closed doors while the great 

 debate was in progress. John Adams delivered 

 a speech in favor of the resolution which was 

 so effective that Thomas Jefferson afterward 

 called him the "Colossus of that debate." The 

 next day Lee's motion was formally adopted, 



The illustration with the heading of this article 

 is a facsimile of the first lines of the original 

 Declaration, as written by Thomas Jefferson. 



