Page 93 - JM Book 9/2020

Thursday, July 4, 1776
fter arriving at the Pennsylvania State House, Jefferson opened his leather case and removed the thermometer. He opened the window, carefully placed the thermometer outside, and closed the window. A few minutes later he removed the thermometer and recorded the nine o’clock temperature to be seventy-two and one-fourth degrees. He observed that it was a clear day with a slight breeze from
the north.
Before the delegates continued reviewing the declaration, they first
instructed the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania to supply flints to the troops in New York, and to order the Maryland and Delaware militia to join the flying camp in Philadelphia.
A flying camp was a mobile, strategic reserve of American troops that General Washington deployed after the British evacuated Boston in March 1776. Congress gave Washington authority on June 3 to establish a flying camp of 10,000 men in the middle colonies. Composed of militiamen from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, the flying camp provided reinforcements to Washington, guarded the New Jersey coast, protected the Continental Army’s supply lines, and suppressed roving bands of militant Tories.
All of this war business reminded the delegates that British troops were making preparations to oppose Washington’s ragtag army in New York – less than a hundred miles from Philadelphia. This was a fact they could not ignore.
Jefferson’s thoughts shifted between the war in New York and the actions of Congress. “What we are trying to accomplish today is just as important as Washington having enough troops and supplies to face the British military on equal terms,” he thought. “When our citizens are able to understand the reasons why we have declared our independence, the troops and the people will be united in winning our freedom. . . . We are so close.”
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