Worksheet # 35 Home Questions Puzzle Links Next
THE COLONIES DECLARE INDEPENDENCE
And the news with the wind swept over the land:
To fight Mother Britain did circumstances demand.
And those down in Philly were now speaking for all
While they argued for hours in a stately old hall.
In Boston meanwhile, with great pluck and great will,
The Rebs battled the Brits, up and down Bunker
Hill.
(Indeed you may know, the hillŐs true name was BreedŐs,
But the misnomer lives on, one of historyŐs weeds).
Where Colonel Prescott did order, to save on supplies:
"Don't fire, my boys, 'til you see the whites of
their eyes!"
While a far cry from combat, where the violence did
rage,
Our keenest of leaders did grand problems engage.
But more than a matter of hated taxes and laws,
This meeting of minds saw a far grander cause.
As they gave hot dispute to a kingŐs divine
right,
And believed a new nation of free and equal in sight!
Of high born and kings, these modern men spurned
And thought the time ripe for a people self-governed.
Yes, the PEOPLE would rule and would run their
affairs,
With no kings, queens or nobles putting on airs!
And in high summer heat, the lawyer John Adams
Did ask of a friend to go write up some plans,
To tell EnglandŐs King and all else who would
hear:
The American people their independence declare!
So young Thomas Jefferson wielded his pen
On a proposal so brash it shocked women and men.
As he claimed for all people, and for none to repress,
The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.
And this rebellious act, so momentous and bold,
Is still one as fateful as any thatŐs told.
For these men of their time, so devoted to reason,
To question country and king. . . amounted to treason!