Tamar, my last word on this....
Your "final sentence" was
"Our founders considered themselves Englishmen and their problem was that the English king wasn't affording them the rights of Englishmen." This is hardly complete.
Fighting broke out a year before we declared our independence. Yes, the Continental Congress sent a petition to George III and his ministers before declaring independence. It was called the Olive Branch Petition. It was a request for reconciliation between the colonies and the British Crown. The Olive Branch Petition was ignored by George III and his ministers. But again, fighting had already broken out on April 19, 1775 which was more than a year before independence as a separate nation was declared on July 4, 1776.