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History of July 4th Independence Day

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History of July 4th Independence Day

On July 4th 1776, the Continental Congress officially announced its independence from Great Britain and its ruler, King George the third. The USA had been under British rule since the 1600’s when the British founded 13 colonies to make up the country – Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. As these colonies grew, so too did unrest. Inhabitants were not happy at the taxes they were made to pay to the British or the superior treatment they were expected to show to these impostors, so they rebelled. They decided that they needed to declare their independence in writing. Led by Thomas Jefferson, who would later go on to become the third U.S. president. The Declaration was written, presented, and finally voted to be accepted on 2nd July 1776, but announced to the world two days later on 4th July. When the declaration was signed there was just 2.5 million people living in the states the United States.

The declaration of independence was written by Thomas Jefferson on a lap-sized writing desk. At the time this equipment was referred to as a laptop.  Thomas Jefferson changed the wording of the Declaration of Independence from the pursuit of property to the pursuit of happiness. Benjamin franklin was the main editor of the declaration of independence he had a large hand in the final draft of the document. George Washington refused to sign the declaration of independence because he did not agree with the separation of church and state.

The continental congress originally voted to have the declaration of independence printed on parchment but because of a lack of parchment they ended up using paper instead. The Continental congress sent the declaration of independence to a printer in Philadelphia Pennsylvania but the printer did not have enough paper so he had to go out and buy more. The printer’s name was john Dunlap and his son would go on to invent the monopoly board game.

Just two men on July 4 1776 signed the declaration of independence. On July 4 1776 only Charles Thompson and the notorious john Hancock signed the declaration of independence. Over the course of the following month 54 additional delegates signed.  The declaration of independence had 91 signers but not all were able to sign the document. The signer’s average age was 45 years Thomas lynch Jr and Edward Rutland of South Carolina who were the youngest of the 56 signers were only 26 years old however at 70 years old Pennsylvania and Benjamin franklin was the oldest signer.

New jersey lawyer richard Stockton who signed the declaration of independence was the sole signatory to later retract his support for the uprising after being apprehended and imprisoned by the British in November 1776. after being mistreated for years and changing his allegiance Stockton was finally freed only to discover that the British had either destroyed or taken all of his belongings his library which was among the best in the colonies was completely destroyed by fire.

Happy 4th from Flippysox!