Does anyone know when the idea of US independance began to be proposed?

Question: Does anyone know when the idea of US independance began to be proposed!?

I know that the Declaration was written in 1776, but when was the idea first gaining acceptance!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Ideas grow like plants from seeds!. The seeds of American Independence may have been sown as early as 1763, with the end of the French and Indian War and the elimination, therefore, of the major military threat to the American colonies!. Without that threat, some colonists began to wonder what they needed Britain for!.

The idea of independence grew considerably in the years of the tax crisises and then the powder alarms, and reached a new stage of semi-maturity when Lexington and Concord happened and then when the British were driven from Boston!. But even then, the majority, even of those in Congress and in the Continental Forces looked not to independence, but rather to forcing the King to rein in his ministers and restore to the colonists their traditional rights!.

However, it should be noted that sentiment for independence from Britain didn't really become wide spread until 1776 with the publication of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" pamphlet, which argued effectively that there was no hope of reconciliation with the King, and independence was the only logical answer!. It was only when that sentiment became general, that the Continental Congress acted to have a declaration of independence drawn up!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Chances gave a great answer!.
And, you must realize that the Boston Tea Party was really an act of terroism, or, at the very least, vandalism!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Stamp Act of 1765!. Great Britain's first direct tax on the American colonies!.
The colonist's realized then that the Stamp tax would only be the first of many!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Boston Tea Party!.!.!.Wish I could have been there!.Www@QuestionHome@Com