July 4 has always been a special day for residents of the United States … I enjoy reading about the brave leaders who desired a complete independence from Great Britain, the year was 1775.
By the middle of the following year, many more colonists had come to favor independence, thanks to growing hostility against Britain and the spread of revoluntionary sentiments such as those expressed in the bestselling pamphlet “Common Sense,” published by Thomas Paine in early 1776.
On June 7, when the Continental Congress met at the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee introduced a motion calling for the colonies’ independence…
Amid heated debate, Congress postponed the vote on Lee’s resolution, but appointed a five-man committee — including Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Robert R. Livingston of New York to draft a formal statement justifying the break with Great Britain.
On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of Lee’s resolution for independence in a near-unanimous vote and on July 4th, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, which had been written largely by Jefferson.
In 1870, the US Congress made July 4th a federal holiday; in 1941, the provision was expanded to grant a paid holiday to all federal employees…
And, according to some sources, over the years, the political importance of the holiday would decline, but Independence Day remained an important national holiday and a symbol of patriotism.
I enjoyed the research and shared…
Remember the fireworks tonight, 9 p.m. at White Lake…
“No other date on the calendar more potently symbolizes all that our nation stands for than the Fourth of July.” Mac Thornberry
“The United States is the only country with a known birthday … There is no ‘Republican’, no ‘Democrat,’ on the Fourth of July – all are Americans.” James G. Blaine
“May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” Peter Marshall
robert g hester
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