Full name: A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms.

Written almost exactly a year before the Declaration of Independence, this document, another fine Thomas Jefferson product (produced with the assistance of John Dickinson), lays out the reasons why colonists have taken up arms.

The first two-thirds of the document remind readers of Great Britain's history with the American colonies over the past two decades. We're talking about the Seven Years' War, the imposition of the taxes to pay for it, the Stamp Act, the Coercive Acts, The Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the stationing of loads of British troops in Boston, leading finally to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. (Head over to the "Timeline" and "Historical Context" for more on those events).

That's right. Great Britain and the American colonies had been in a shooting war for almost three months, but war hadn't been officially declared, so the First Continental Congress felt like they should maybe say why the battles were happening.

And why were the battles happening? Basically, the colonists felt like they didn't have a choice. They'd just been pushed and pushed and pushed. More and more rights had been lost. They were going to fight for them, despite the fact that war is the worst.

"But wait," says Jefferson in the final three paragraphs. "We don't want independence, really. We hope we can resolve this conflict and be friends again. This is a civil war, not a revolution. Don't get any ideas, 'mkay?"