...that what we have affectionately come to know as "July the 4th" was actually July the 2nd? Our country used to be under the rule of Great Britain, so in 1776 a committee was formed to write a document to the Second Continental Congress that would declare the justifications of seceding the 13 colonies from the British Empire. At the time each colony just wanted out on its own and had no interest in becoming a single nation. After a few minor adjustments, the most famous being Thomas Jefferson's written denouncement of slavery being omitted from the document on the grounds that it was "too sensitive an issue to be addressed by us, we're only Congress," the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 2, 1776, but it wasn't signed by most of the delegates until Aug. 2. Historians will tell you the reason Independence Day is observed on July 4 is "anyone's guess." Although signed and published, America wouldn't get its independence until years later when both British and U.S. leaders signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783. (Source: The Huntsville Times, June 24 2007.)
|
