This is the third in a series.

While July 4 is celebrated as Independence Day, it is the events and actions during the month of June 1776 that made it possible. A look at the events that took place in New Jersey can give you a sense of how traumatic the break with England actually was.

In New Jersey, the royal governor, William Franklin, Ben’s son, refused to abandon his post and actually resisted the Second Continental Congress by attempting to keep his colony loyal to the king.