The Declaration of Independence Gets Some Much-Needed Signatures
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
August 2nd, 1776
It’s still hot in Philadelphia, but inside the Pennsylvania State House it was even hotter! Even though the windows were now open … there’s no longer a secret about what they had been doing there for the last two months!
They had all signed the “Declaration” as Jefferson called it, and they could go home.
Remember all of those signatures that you saw in your history books? The men who signed their names on it on July 4th 1776. The ones on this piece of parchment?
That’s pretty much a lie that you have been told for 250 years!
First, and probably the most important note, was that no one signed the “Declaration” on the 4th of July. Except for one lonely person. The guy in charge of “notarizing” that the homework assignment had been turned in. The secretary of all these shenanigans! His, and only his, name was on the original document. Not even Thomas Jefferson, the person who wrote down all of those crazy ideas, signed it that day.
As was mentioned in last month blog, the only thing that happened on July 4th was that everyone agreed that they would sign it, sometime in the future. No specific dates were bandied about, and there was no written proof that they would ever sign it!
They had adopted the baby, but had yet to sign the paperwork! It really wasn’t a legally binding document!
Unfortunately for him, the Secretary of the 2nd Continental Congress was still on the hook for starting a revolution! He could soon be the “Great 13 Colonies Scapegoat”!
“WHAT, SIR, DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE?”
“Ah, I have no idea what you are talking about!”
“I didn’t sign that thing!”
“I was home milking my cows!”
“I’m an undercover agent for MI6 … I was just keeping an eye on those sneaky little …”
“The king’s my brother-in-law!”
“Benjamin Franklin’s a spy for the British government … ask him!”
Actually, that last one has been brought up by some historians. No actual proof, but Ben’s not around to defend himself!
It is currently in the category of the “Lee Harvey Oswald was the Lone Gunman” Theory. Secretary Seward had Abraham Lincoln killed and used John Wilkes Booth as the patsy. That’s the real reason Booth was killed in Maryland. Amelia Earhart was really a U.S. government spy! “Shakespeare” is the “pen name” several writers used because they couldn’t use their own names.
You pick your favorite!
But it was true that through July some of the delegates still had questions about what they had done. Correspondence was slow … the internet was down, and emails weren’t getting through to the people back home would be today’s excuse, but in 1776 ... correspondence WAS slow!
Not everyone had returned to Philadelphia to sign, and it would take months for some. Early 1777 for at least one.
But they were close! Just a few more signatures and they would get a “free order of fries” at their favorite hangout, City Tavern!
August 2nd, 1776 is the date that myself and many historians celebrate as America’s REAL Independence Day. (Actually, we use that as an excuse to celebrate on both the 4th of July AND August 2nd. We usually have some leftover ale from the 4th and need to “use it up!”)
WHAT IF
History is full of “what if.” That’s what makes it fun, especially for fiction authors and movie and television screenplay writers. I’m both, and it’s what I have fun doing … what if?
What if at the last minute, some delegates of the 2nd Continental Congress refused to sign?
What if an entire colony, or two, or three … backed out?
What if George Washington said, “I’ve changed mind! Have you seen those guys you sent me to lead? Martha and I are moving to our plantation in Barbados. Good luck!”
Delegate: “But George, you could be President some day!”
George: “What are they going to do, put my face on your worthless currency?
George: “Did I mention? GOOD LUCK!”
Fortunately, those what-ifs didn’t happen. It’s sort of a miracle they actually didn’t! It took eight years before the British, or at least one of them, General Cornwallis, decided he had had enough! Of course, the British tried it again in 1812, but hey, determination sometimes works!
Happy
Somewhere between the 2nd of August 1776 – January 15th 1777
Benjamin Franklin does have his face on our currency.
“I’ll give you 100 dollars if you can guess which one!” (Ha! Ha! Ha! An old Ben Franklin joke!)
But that didn’t help his current situation. He was lost in the 21st century! A parallel universe! Where everyone in Williamsburg, Virginia, now spoke with a British accent! Because the history book of what-ifs tells them that …
The British Won the Revolution!
