Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, celebrates the adoption by the Continental Congress of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Now on the 237th birthday of the United States, what`s shocking is that most 'Americans' don`t fully know the significance of the Fourth of July, its history, relevance and simply don't know WHY we celebrate the 4th of July or what country we declared independence from. Surprising huh?...
Firstly, the Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776...
The Declaration of Independence is the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Thomas Jefferson's most enduring monument, since it was he who first wrote a draft of the document between June 11 and June 28, 1776 and was submitted when the Second Continental Congress met.
On July 1, 1776, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and on the following
day 12 of the 13 colonies voted in favor of Richard Henry Lee’s motion for independence.
The delegates then spent the next two days debating and revising the language of a
statement drafted by Thomas Jefferson.
On July 4, Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, and as a result the
date is celebrated as Independence Day. Nearly a month would go by, however, before the
actual signing of the document took place. First, New York’s delegates didn’t officially give
their support until July 9 because their home assembly hadn’t yet authorized them to vote in
favor of independence. Next, it took two weeks for the Declaration to be “engrossed”—
written on parchment in a clear hand. Most of the delegates signed on August 2, but several
—Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean and Matthew Thornton—
signed on a later date. (Two others, John Dickinson and Robert R. Livingston, never signed
at all.) The signed parchment copy now resides at the National Archives in the Rotunda for
the Charters of Freedom, alongside the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence, included eighty-six changes made later by John Adams (1735-1826), Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790), other members of the committee appointed to draft the document, and by Congress. The "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence, one of the great milestones in American history, shows the evolution of the text from the initial composition draft by Jefferson to the final text adopted by Congress on the morning of July 4, 1776
WATCH: Americans Don't Know WHY We Celebrate the 4th of July or WHAT COUNTRY We Declared Independence From! [Mark Dice]
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