Did you know? Some facts about America’s most patriotic holiday…
Independence Day
, commonly known as the
Fourth of July or July Fourth
, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on
July 4, 1776
, declaring independence from Great Britain.
The fourth of July commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. It was initially adopted by the Second Continental Congress on
July 2, 1776
, but it wasn’t until two days later that a congressional committee approved the final draft. And it wasn’t until Aug. 2 that delegates signed the document. When it went to the printer, July 4 was affixed to the top of the document as the official date.
Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian delegate who became the nation’s third president, wrote the declaration as a formal explanation of why the colonies should secede in June 1776. John Adams, later the second U.S. president, and Benjamin Franklin edited.
Three presidents died on July 4…Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Monroe.
John Adams believed that day would be marked with celebrations throughout the nation’s history.
From 1776 until the present day, July 4th has been celebrated with activities ranging from fireworks, parades, concerts, family gatherings, and barbecues.
Actually only two Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The majority of signers penned their signatures on August 2, 1776.
The holiday does not celebrate
the signing
of the Declaration; it celebrates
the adoption
of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress.
The first sentence of the Declaration of Independence reads…
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
It is the second sentence which is better known: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
(Thanks to Wikipedia and other online resources for this “history review”.)
