The origins of July 4th & Independence Day- by Guest Dad Jason

This is a very special guest dad because he is my wonderful husband Jason! He is the biggest history buff you will ever meet, and has put together a little history lesson on "The origins of July 4th and Independence Day". Thank you sweetie!

The origins of July 4^th and Independence Day:

April 19^th, 1775 the first battle at Lexington, VA “the shot heard round the world” and at Concord, MA; begins six years of war for Independence from Britain.

June 11, Congress appoints a committee to draft a declaration of Independence. Committee members are Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Livingston and Roger Sherman. Jefferson is chosen by the committee to prepare the first draft of the declaration, which he completes in one day.

July 1, 1776 one representative, Caesar Rodney despite being ill and bad weather, rode 80 miles by horseback from Dover, Delaware to reach Philadelphia.

July 2, 1776 Caesar Rodney voted with McKean and thereby allowed Delaware to join eleven other states in voting in favor of the resolution of Independence. Twelve of thirteen colonial delegations (New York abstains) vote in support of Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia delegate on his resolution for Independence.

On July 4, 1776 the Congress formally endorses Jefferson's Declaration. Copies of the Declaration to be sent to all of the colonies, the actual signing of the document occurs on August 2, 1776 as most of the 55 members of Congress place their names on the parchment copy. This is declaring Independence from Britain; we have not won our Independence yet.

The war would effectively end at Yorktown, VA. British troops under Gen. Charles Cornwallis had been driven out of the Carolinas and into Virginia. The French fleet under Admiral Francois de Grasse bottled up the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay while an American and French army under Washington marched south to confront Cornwallis. For Cornwallis, surrounded and outnumbered, he had no choice on Oct. 19, 1781 he surrendered.

The fighting was over, and the rebellion was successful. It would take two more years to get a peace treaty signed in Paris, but long before that, the British began making plans to evacuate America.

The Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary War and was signed on September 3, 1783; those 13 colonies have now gained its Independence from Britain and those United States of America became one Nation under God.

So on July 4th we not only celebrate our Independence we celebrate the Declaration of it and we declare our Independence from tyranny, Government monopoly, and our freedom as a Nation under God.

The Declaration of Independence states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life (Genesis 2:7), Liberty ( II Corinthians 3:17), and the Pursuit of Happiness (Ecclesiastes 3:3)".

The coin representing Delaware, "The First State," shows Caesar Rodney on horseback.

Independence Day was not declared a legal holiday until 1870.

For a free copy of the Declaration of Independence / The Constitution of the United States.

http://www.askheritage.org/

To Purchase a parchment replica.

http://store.ushistory.org/showcat.asp?cid=36