American History

sarisataka

(21,039 posts) Wed Jul 4, 2012, 06:23 PM Jul 2012

10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Fourth of July

Have to have something here on the 4th...

1. America didn’t declare its independence on the Fourth of July

Perhaps the greatest misconception of this American holiday lies in the name and its equally iconic date. The true “Independence Day” depends on your definition of when such an official declaration was indeed truly official. It’s widely believed that America’s first Continental Congress declared their independence from the British monarchy on July 4th, 1776. However, the official vote actually took place two days before and the “Declaration” was published in the newspapers on July 4th.

2-10 http://thefw.com/things-about-fourth-of-july/

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10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Fourth of July (Original Post) sarisataka Jul 2012 OP

Nice to see this johnsolaris Jul 2012 #1

johnsolaris

(220 posts)

1. Nice to see this

Reply to sarisataka (Original post)

Fri Jul 6, 2012, 01:43 AM

Jul 2012

Hi, Thanks for the link, it was fun.
Nice to see a bit of truth about Independence day even if it was a bit on the pop culture side.

The Resolution for Independence was indeed passed on July 2 and John Adams thought that July 2 would always be known as our day of Independence. July 4th became our independence day because the final draft of the Declaration was accepted & adopted by the delegates. Many words were changed or dropped & other phrases were put in to appease the Delegates. Remember they were politicians and we all know how politicians think their ideas are the most important. Jefferson's Rough Draft is viewable & is on the internet. It is a fascinating read to see all the changes & what was his original intent for the Declaration.

The document was signed by most of the delegates on August 2nd, When a clean copy of the Declaration was presented to the Congress. Jefferson's original Rough Draft was marked on, lines drawn through & changed significantly. Some of the delegates did not sign it till much later since after the adoption many went home to attend to personal matters.

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