Sunset Moon Over the Horizon: Our Nation's Birthday

 

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“Photography can light up darkness and expose ignorance.” - Lewis Hine


    Happy Birthday, America! Even if the actual date is debatable. From my post on July 3, 2021...

So What Happened on July 3, 1776?

    John Adams, the future second President, was serving as a member of the Massachusetts delegation to the Second Continental Congress. Meeting for over a year in the Pennsylvania State House, the delegates from the thirteen colonies had been working on reconciliation with the British crown. King George III ignored the petition and declared the colonies to be in revolt. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia offered a resolution for independence from England, asserting, "that these colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states..." It was at this point a committee of five members, including John Adams, was assigned to draft a formal document of independence. On July 2, 1776, Lee's resolution was adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

    The next day, on the third of July, 1776, John Adams excitedly wrote a letter to his wife, Abigail, rejoicing in the momentous decision the day before. He predicted that the second would be a day of great celebration. "It will be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more." Although he got much correct in that expectant statement, his choice of date was a little off.

    Between July 2 and July 4, Congress argued about every detail in the draft of the declaration. Many changes were made but finally, on July 4, 1776, Congress voted again and approved the wording of the Declaration of Independence as we know it. Still, the document wasn't signed that day either. After a delay, the document was finally sent to calligrapher and congressional clerk Timothy Matlack to be formally handwritten. Fifty of the fifty-six delegates signed the engrossed document inside Independence Hall on August 2, 1776.

    Back on the fourth of July, after the vote of approval, the unsigned but approved declaration was sent to printer John Dunlap for mass printing and distribution, an early indication that the United States hoped to be a more transparent, democratic government. And on the masthead of the printed version: "In Congress, July 4, 1776. A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America."

    So John Adams may have gotten the date we celebrate a bit off, but the cause for celebration and the moral force of the concepts of equality enshrined in the Declaration of Independence helped to guide and improve our great country even to this day. God bless you, my friends. And God bless America.

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Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE, USA

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