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Independence Day
I always start my July 4th off by reading the Declaration of Independence. It’s short and is such an appropriate reminder as to why this is such a wonderful place to live, and speaks profoundly to the importance of protecting our democracy
Here’s a link so you don’t have to Google it.
Some facts:
- The American colonies had been at war with Great Britain for over a year when the document was signed.
- Although Thomas Jefferson is often called the “author” of the Declaration of Independence, he wasn’t the only person who contributed important ideas. Jefferson was a member of a five-person committee appointed by the Continental Congress to write the Declaration. The committee included Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman.
- Robert Livingston, one of the members of the committee who wrote the Declaration of Independence, never signed it. He believed that it was too soon to declare independence and therefore refused to sign.
- One of the most widely held misconceptions about the Declaration of Independence is that it was signed on July 4, 1776. In fact, our independence was formally declared on July 2, 1776, a date that John Adams believed would be “the most memorable Epocha in the history of America.”
- On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the final text of the Declaration. It wasn’t signed until August 2, 1776.
- American Loyalists rejected the Declaration of Independence. Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain and the king during the American Revolutionary War. Those who supported the American Revolution, and the Declaration of Independence, were called Patriots.
- About 20% of the American population during the American Revolutionary War were loyalists