HISTORY OF
INDEPENDENCE DAY
Independence Day, or the Fourth of July is the adoption by the Continental
Congress on July 4, 1776, of the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming
the severance of the allegiance of the American colonies to Great Britain.
It is the greatest secular holiday of the United States, observed in all
the states, territories and dependencies.
Although it is assumed that the Continental Congress unanimously signed
the document on the 4th of July, in fact not all delegates were present
and there were no signers at all. Here is what really happened.
The congressional delegate from Virginia, Richard Henry Lee, introduced in
the Continental Congress, on June 7, 1776, a resolution "that...body
declare the United Colonies free and independent States, absolved from
allegiance to or dependence on the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain..."
On June 10 a committee of five, headed by Thomas Jefferson (the actual
writer), was appointed to prepare a declaration suitable to the occasion
in the event that the Virginia resolution was adopted. Jefferson's
version was revised by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams before it went to
the Congress where they did
some editing of their own.
Congress approved the resolution July 2; the declaration composed by
Jefferson and amended by his committee was adopted July 4. That evening
John Hancock ordered Philadelphia printer John Dunlap to print 200
broadside copies of the agreed upon Declaration that was signed by him as
President and Charles Thomson as Secretary. These were distributed to
members of the Congress and distributed
to the 13 colonies and elsewhere. The Declaration was read in the yard of
the state house July 8. New York did not even vote on it until July
9. The signing was even more gradual, and it is somewhat misleading
to speak of the "fifty-six original signers of the Declaration of
Independence".
By August 6, most of those whose names are on the document had signed, but
at least six signatures were attached later. One signer, Thomas
McKean did not attach his name until 1781! Some of those who signed
were not even in Congress when the Declaration was adopted, and some who
voted for it in Congress never did get around to signing it. Robert
R. Livingston was one of the committee of five; he helped to frame it; he
voted for it; and he never signed it.
The first anniversary of the declaration was observed only in
Philadelphia, Pa., by the adjournment of Congress, a ceremonial dinner,
bonfires, the ringing of bells and fireworks. In 1788, after the
requisite number of states had adopted the constitution, Philadelphia
celebrated July 4 by elaborate festivities, including a grand procession.
Boston, Mass., first observed the day in 1783, and thereafter this
celebration replaced that of the Boston Massacre, March 5. The
custom spread to other cities and states, where the day was marked by
parades, patriotic oratory, military displays and fireworks. In
present time, games and athletic contests, picnics, patriotic programs and
pageants, and community fireworks of pyrotechnic expertise are
characteristic of the 4th of July.
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