America, till now, could never be called a free country, because her
legislation depended on the will of a man three thousand miles
distant, whose interest was in opposition to ours, and who, by a
single "no," could forbid what law he pleased.

The freedom of trade, likewise, is, to a trading country, an article
of such importance, that the principal source of wealth depends upon
it; and it is impossible that any country can flourish, as it
otherwise might do, whose commerce is engrossed, cramped and fettered
by the laws and mandates of another- yet these evils, and more than I
can here enumerate, the continent has suffered by being under the
government of England. By an independence we clear the whole at once-
put an end to the business of unanswered petitions and fruitless
remonstrances- exchange Britain for Europe- shake hands with the
world- live at peace with the world- and trade to any market where we
can buy and sell.

III. The necessity, likewise, of being independent, even before it
was declared, became so evident and important, that the continent ran
the risk of being ruined every day that she delayed it. There was
reason to believe that Britain would endeavor to make an European
matter of it, and, rather than lose the whole, would dismember it,
like Poland, and dispose of her several claims to the highest bidder.
Genoa, failing in her attempts to reduce Corsica, made a sale of it
to the French, and such trafficks have been common in the old world.
We had at that time no ambassador in any part of Europe, to
counteract her negotiations, and by that means she had the range of
every foreign court uncontradicted on our part. We even knew nothing
of the treaty for the Hessians till it was concluded, and the troops
ready to embark. Had we been independent before, we had probably