On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee proposed a resolution to the Continental Congress stating that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States." Four days later Congress appointed a committee to draft a declaration embodying the intent of the resolution. The committee, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, pressed on Jefferson the task of writing their report. On June 28 the committee submitted …showed first 75 words of 1200 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1200 total…showing the king to be a traitor to his people, the colonists rightfully dissolved the last political bonds with Britain and assumed a "separate and equal station" among nations of the earth. Although looking back we turn most frequently to the noble enunciation of political principles, at the time perhaps the primary purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to achieve release from Britain by indicting the British king for treason against his American subjects.