Congress sought unanimity among colonies before declaring independence.

Evidence

The mid-May vote by Congress for Adams’s preamble to the resolution on independent governments suggested that most delegates and a majority of delegations favored independence but that the five middle colonies from New York to Maryland still barred their members from supporting it. A narrow majority might suffice for a resolution on governments, but the delegates generally agreed that the grand question of independence called for unanimity or at least a robust majority. Even such eager advocates of separation as the Adamses and Washington had long maintained that, if the British chose to fight, then winning a revolution would require unity but that, if united, no empire on earth could defeat the Americans. Events since its troops left Boston showed that the British government intended to fight with all its might. Accordingly, to give time for all the colonies to free their delegates to vote for independence, after two days of debate, Congress opted on June 10 to delay further consideration on the resolution until July 1. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 207

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why was unanimity, not majority rule, treated as the threshold for so foundational a decision as independence — and how did that expectation shape the later structure of ratification debates?
• XREF: Connects to the course’s question of foundational values and how unanimity norms govern constitutional moments, resembling later debates over the Constitution’s ratification. — connects to: Leading patriots delayed independence until all colonies could agree — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 160; Assembly instructions constrained four middle colonies’ delegates against independence — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 180; Independence required unanimity across colonial delegations — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 126 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Independence required unanimity across colonial delegations #corroborates (0.95) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 126
• Delaware, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania delegates sided with independence to preserve colonial unanimity #exemplifies (0.85) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 221
• Congress deleted Jefferson’s slavery passage from the Declaration because it divided the colonies #exemplifies (0.80) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 104