CHAPTER 15.
THE GREAT DECLARATION AND THE FRENCH ALLIANCE [Sidenote: Rising spirit of independence, 1775-76.] 145.

Growth of the Spirit of Independence .-- The year 1776 is even more to be remembered for the doings of Congress than it is for the doings of the soldiers.

The colonists loved England.

They spoke of it as home.

They were proud of the strength of the British empire, and glad to belong to it.