All across the colonies, the movement for independence gains strength. In April, the North Carolina assembly instructs its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence if the issue is called. In May, Rhode Island makes the first public declaration of its independence from Great Britain. The towns of Massachusetts still deliberate, and while they take their time to vote, the Virginia Legislature at Williamsburg now sits to decide its position on the issue of independence. Soon the word will spread from Williamsburg to the Congress in Philadelphia and beyond.

To examine all four pages of this newspaper, please see the online display of the The Boston-Gazette, and Country Journal, 24 June 1776.