Naming a goal transforms an open-ended grievance struggle into a final objective

Evidence

Declaring independence, as Common Sense pleaded, the colonies proposed, and Congress proclaimed, gave a clear goal for the patriot cause. Colonists might oppose taxation without representation or reject the authority of Parliament to pass laws binding them in all cases whatsoever without knowing what concessions would constitute victory. By equating liberty with independence, patriots gained a definite objective and a fixed end point for their struggle. In 1776, independence replaced liberty as the patriot battle cry, but to Americans at the time the two words carried a common meaning: freedom under popular rule. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 354

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Connects to the course’s core question of how founding-era language (‘liberty’ vs ‘independence’) carries distinct legal-political weight, as both terms converged on ‘freedom under popular rule.’
• XREF: The equation of liberty with independence under popular rule ties back to earlier chapters on popular sovereignty and the people replacing the king. — connects to: Dickinson argued rupture from Britain would leave Americans bleeding and unmoored; The Lexington and Concord battles converted the late-arriving Paine to independence.; Cause is the objective situation apprehended as a means toward a presupposed end — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1086 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Cause is the objective situation apprehended as a means toward a presupposed end #expands (0.82) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1086
• Failing to name internal allies of an external enemy depoliticizes struggle into petty disputes #exemplifies (0.82) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 479
• Objective states of affairs become causes only through a for-itself’s project #expands (0.80) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1089
• Naming heterogeneous demands performatively creates their unity. #expands (0.80) — Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason, 361
• Goal-oriented intergroup conflict differs sharply from aimless hostility release #qualifies (0.78) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3346
• Optimizing for stated goals produces monstrous outcomes #complicates (0.78) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 655