Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Independence \In`de*pend"ence\, n. [Cf. F. ind['e]pendance.]
   1. The state or quality of being independent; freedom from
      dependence; exemption from reliance on, or control by,
      others; self-subsistence or maintenance; direction of
      one's own affairs without interference.

            Let fortune do her worst, . . . as long as she never
            makes us lose our honesty and our independence.
                                                  --Pope.

   2. Sufficient means for a comfortable livelihood.

   {Declaration of Independence} (Amer. Hist.), the declaration
      of the Congress of the Thirteen United States of America,
      on the 4th of July, 1776, by which they formally declared
      that these colonies were free and independent States, not
      subject to the government of Great Britain.

Source : WordNet®

independence
     n 1: freedom from control or influence of another or others [syn:
           {independency}]
     2: the successful ending of the American Revolution; "they
        maintained close relations with England even after
        independence"
     3: a city in western Missouri; the beginning of the Santa Fe
        Trail