PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
July, 1776
What do you do when you’ve got nothing else on your calendar for early July?
Oh, maybe declare your independence … from your mom … Great Britain … and your dad … King George III!
“Yeah! Let’s do that!”
From July 1st through July 8th a lot of things were happening in Philadelphia:
Debates!
Revisions!
Adoptions!
Public Readings!
But the one thing they didn’t do was actually get everyone to sign that famous document on the 4th of July!
Only in the movies!
A full signing didn’t happen until August 2nd! Well, sort of. Not even then had everyone signed.
So, what are we celebrating? The signing? The printing?
No, we’re celebrating the ADOPTION! The DECLARATION!
Which is fine. But sorry, my glass of ale gets raised on August 2nd when the “majority” of delegates finally signed off on that famous parchment. I feel a little bit better by doing that. There was that shaky “30 days” that things could have gone sideways.
“You know! We have been thinking this thing over! We have decided …”
Fortunately, that didn’t happen!
So, pick a date, or maybe all three and celebrate!
Happy
4th of July 1776 – 2nd of August 1776 – January 15th 1777
