Happy 4th of July!
We wish all of our customers a very happy July 4th holiday!
July 4th trivia:
In 1776 the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, but the document was not signed on this day. In fact, the document wasn’t even called the Declaration of Independence.
On July 2, 1776 the Continental Congress, unanimously approved the thirteen colonies becoming independent of the British Empire and on July 4 ratified the plan. On July 19 the Continental Congress accepted Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the independence declaring document, titled The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America. Most delegates signed the document on August 2, but many were unavailable and did not put pens to the document for months to come. Matthew Thornton of New Hampshire did not sign the document until November 4, 1776 and Thomas McKean of Delaware was serving in the Continental Army and did not apply his signature until 1781!
The British reception of the declaration was less than stellar. The ratified document declared equality of all men and their “unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness“. It further stated that the government derives “their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it“. Abolishing British rule was nothing short of treason!
John Adams arranged for Thomas Jefferson to write the draft for the Declaration of Independence. The two men first met in Philadelphia when attending the first Continental Congress in 1775 and became fast friends, but over the years political and philosophical differences between the two men became more pronounced and they had a major falling out. Both men died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, just a few hours apart. Adams’ last words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives“, not knowing that Jefferson had passed away just a few hours earlier.
American Glory
[whohit]2014-07-04 Happy 4th of July![/whohit]