Happy Independence Day, America!
"July 2, 1776, is the day that the Continental Congress actually voted for independence." The Pennsylvania Evening Post published this announcement that night: “This day the Continental Congress declared the United Colonies Free and Independent States.”
John Adams wrote his wife, Abigail: "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.—I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to 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."
Two days after that, the declaration was issued after Thomas Jefferson edited it.
John Adams may have been the first American to utter the famous word, "D'oh!"
But he's not wrong. Today was when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve the Lee Resolution, which proposed independence from the British Empire that had been advanced in June by Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia statesman. This was the day that we declared the establishment of a new country of United Colonies as independent from the British Empire. The document wasn't actually signed, it is thought, until Aug. 2nd when the assistant to the secretary of Congress, Timothy Matlack, produced a clean copy.
That copy, however, did not stay clean. At some point before it ended up in the National Archives, a little kid with dirty hands left a handprint in the lower left hand corner.
Check it out here: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration (high resolution available from the National Archives).
Please put your historically accurate information below or any books about this subject or American History you recommend.
In the alternative, any references to Nicholas Cage memes will be accepted.
Britain used the death penalty quite liberally back then. I would expect those guys to be executed in the event of a British victory.
Regular Continental soldiers would be pardoned. But the leaders of the moment? To the gallows.
David Tyrie was in 1782 but by all means keep saying stuff that isn't true.
Exactly. One stretched the ball out. The other got his balls stretched out.
You lost your credibility on this argument a long time ago. Just give it up. It was way more than one person. You don't know what the hell you're talking about and you keep going with the argument anyway. Just stop.
This method for of execution was used by the Bristish up until about 1820. It was rarely used in the last few decades and still was a punishment for treason, but it was still used. Public opinion had turned against its use sometime around the turn of the century and executioners at times would have to find refuge after carrying out the sentence. In comparison as late as 1781 pieces of an executed body were fought over by the crowd in attendance. Tens of thousands would attend the executions as well and the sentence being carried out would be loudly cheered.
The last few instances of exection had several members of conspiracies executed so no singular case. In the Despard Plot alone in 1803, the 7 found guilty were all drawn, hanged and quartered.
You think so? Nearly all of the men who voted were wealthy land owners. They could have easily jumped ship, and booked passage to France. Their slaves however would have been fucked.
True. They didn't say that they wouldn't recapture the "freed" slaves to re-sell either.
There's no guarantee France would want to give shelter to a bunch of Protestant anti-monarchists. The Americans were useful to the French insofar as they could cause trouble for their enemy (Britain), but if the revolution were crushed, what good would they do for Louis XVI?
Because the French enjoyed pissing in Great Britains cherrios whenever they had the chance?
If the American Revolution had failed, the war would be considered a fiasco in France and increase public pressure on the king (possibly even leading to an earlier French Revolution). At that point I'm not sure he'd want to deal with American refugees.
Did that play twice, the second time as Jefferson. This is one of my favorite moments, when the curtain rises at the end of Adams' opening monologue, and two dozen of us blow the back doors off with "Sit Down, John!" (Step aside, tenors - this is a job for the bass/baritones!)
of Nicolas Cage's skull!.
Even died on the same day as him. Probably just to steal Adams's thunder. July 4, 1836
I prefer to think of the 4th of July as my birthday. :)
Happy 4th and stay safe. Both fireworks wise and drinking wise. It seems like every year we hear more and more absurd horror stories.