There have been various changes since the emergence of what is now known as the 4th of July to Americans. The history dates back to the 19th century when the Unites States gained its independence from Britain. From its inception the 4th of July has evolved into what most Americans known to be a celebration which has consisted of fireworks, food and fun with family and friends over the year.
HOWEVER, getting back to the point the 4th of July that the day captures the history that facilitated the independence of the American nation which is marking the anniversary of the Declaration of independence. When we turned back to look what actually happened on 4th of July, it was the day when congress officially adopted the declaration of independence. This piece of paper had been formally declared 2 days ago. That means on 2nd of July.
Congress had selected a committee in Pennsylvania that would be responsible for creating a document which would tell Britain that the American colonies wanted to rule themselves. After discussing about all the issues, they wanted to include to the document by the committee. They selected Thomas Jefferson to put together those ideas in a draft copy.
Jefferson done it within a couple of days and handed over the 1st copy to committee on the 28th of June. On the 2nd of July they revised the document and declared Americans’ independence. The official adoption of the declaration was on the 4th of July.
Further, the Declaration of Independence is the reason that we party done yearly. Here are 3 facts you may not know that can use to influence all about this 4th of July.
(01) Thomas Jefferson didn’t write the Declaration of Independence alone.
While Jefferson was the basic creator, he wasn’t alone in manuscript declaration. The committee of five was named on June 11th to draft a formal statement for the colonies case for independence. The committee appendages were John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York, Roger Sherman of Connecticut and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.
There was a total of 86 edits to Jefferson’s original draft by the time of its approval on 4th of July, but the famous preamble remained untouched.
(02) John Dunlap printed hundreds of copies of the Declaration of Independence.
The committee of five was charged with making and sending copies of the Declaration to the masses on the midnight of 4th of July, 1776. They went to Philadelphia typesetter John Dunlap who set in print a great number of copies that were send off across 13 colonies on July 5th, 1776. These ❝Dunlap Broadsides❞ are remarkably rare ones and only 26 copies are known to have survived. Most are held in museums and library collections but 3 are privately owned.
(03) There was something on the back of the Declaration of Independence.
In the movie named ❝National Treasure❞, Nicholas Cage’s character claims that the Declaration holds a treasure map accompanying encrypted instructions from the founding fathers, written in hidden ink. Unluckily this is not the case. There was a simpler message written upturned across the bottom of the signed document. ❝Original Declaration of Independence dated 04th July❞. Nobody knows who exactly wrote this or when.
How old was everyone who signed the Declaration?
There was a 44-year age difference middle from the 2 points, the youngest and most aged signers. The oldest cosigner was Benjamin Franklin who was 70 years old when he scrawled his name on the parchment. The youngest was Edward Rutledge, a lawyer from South Carolina who was only 26 at that time.
Who signed the Declaration on 04th of July?
In the end, 56 delegates signed the Declaration of Independence.
President of Congress 1. John Hancock (Massachusetts Bay)
New Hampshire 2. Josiah Bartlett
3. William Whipple 4. Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts Bay
5. Samuel Adams
6. John Adams 7. Robert Treat Paine
8. Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
9. Stephen Hopkins
10. William Ellery
Connecticut 11. Roger Sherman
12. Samuel Huntington 13. William Williams
14. Oliver Wolcott
New York
15. William Floyd
16. Philip Livingston 17. Francis Lewis
18. Lewis Morris
New Jersey
19. Richard Stockton
20. John Witherspoon
21. Francis Hopkinson
22. John Hart
23. Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania
24. Robert Morris
25. Benjamin Rush
26. Benjamin Franklin 27. John Morton
28. George Clymer
29. James Smith
30. George Taylor
31. James Wilson
32. George Ross
Delaware 33. Caesar Rodney
34. George Read 35. Thomas McKean
Maryland 36. Samuel Chase
37. William Pace
38. Thomas Stone
39. Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia 40. George Wythe
41. Richard Henry Lee 42. Thomas Jefferson
43. Benjamin Harrison
44. Thomas Nelson, Jr.
45. Francis Lightfoot Lee 46. Carter Braxton
North Carolina 47.
William Hooper
48. Joseph Hewes
49. John Penn
South Carolina 50.
Edward Rutledge
51. Thomas Heyward, Jr. 52. Thomas Lynch, Jr.
53. Arthur Middleton
Georgia 54. Button Gwinnett
55. Lyman Hall 56. George Walton
