6. The Fourth of July and the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, as written by Thomas Jefferson, was subjected to lengthy and to Jefferson’s personally difficult debate in the Continental Congress. Congress had already approved the Virginia resolution of Independence, it was the wording of the document which caused so many issues with the representatives of the different states. Independence was approved on July 2, 1776, and a revision to the wording of the document was approved on the fourth, mostly in the areas of the list of grievances against King George III. The final version was not publicly read until July 8, and it was weeks before all of the signers affixed their names to the fair copy prepared.
John Adams, who like Jefferson would die on the Fourth of July fifty years later, believed that Independence Day in the United States should be July 2, the date on which the motion was approved by Congress. He suggested the means of celebration, including, “Pomp and Parade with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations”, though the nation as a whole selected July 4 – the date on the revised copy – rather than July 2 as Independence Day. By the way, another Founder and former President, James Monroe, also died on the Fourth of July, five years after Adams and Jefferson succumbed on that date.