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Every July 4th, we celebrate our independence from British rule.
As we eat our hot dogs, chug our beer and watch the fireworks,
let's review thirteen facts about July 4th that you may not know.
Next on Marking History!
Here is an historical marker for the Declaration of Independence,
with a replica of the actual document and its 56 signers.
This marker is located here in front the Police Department for the City of Hyattsville, Maryland.
You know, you can't get more historical than the Declaration of Independence.
And as an amateur historian of American History,
it was difficult for me to choose only thirteen facts.
But here goes! My top thirteen facts about Independence day!
When the 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence,
they knew full well that they were committing treason against England and they knew the penalty - death!
In fact, it was Ben Franklin who said,
Signing the Declaration proved to be very costly.
Five signers were captured by the British and brutally tortured as traitors.
Nine fought in the Revolutionary War and died from wounds or hardships.
Two lost their sons in the war, and two others had sons captured.
At least a dozen of the 56 had their homes pillaged and burned.
By 1776, we'd actually been working on declaring our independence for years.
1773: the Boston Tea Party took place as a protest against British taxation of colonial tea
1774: the First Continental Congress began meeting
to discuss what to do about Britain's imposing unfair laws on the colonies.
1775: the Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775, with the battles at Lexington and Concord
and would continue until 1783 with America's victory at Yorktown,Virginia.
1776: June 28th. Founding Fathers presented the first rough draft of the document to the Second Continental Congress.
Here is the famous John Trumbull painting depicting all of our all the Founding Fathers
signing the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Guess what?
It never happened.
No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred in Philadelphia.
That patriotic scene, printed on the back of the $2 bill,
took place on June 28, 1776, when the Five Authors of the Declaration of Independence
presented the first rough draft of the document to the Second Continental Congress and President John Hancock.
In a significant day in American history the Second Continental Congress voted for Independence.
The date was July 2, 1776.
America's original 13 colonies had elected to separate from the English Empire.
It literally became the first day of the American Revolution.
Over the next two days, eighty- six alterations were made to the draft,
and Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776.
A fair copy was made of the amended draft and hand carried by John Adams and Ben Franklin
to the printing office of John Dunlap in Philadelphia on the afternoon of the 4th.
The Declaration was printed that night into the early morning of the fifth.
John Hancock, President of Congress began to send out “official copies” on the 5th and 6th of July
to all thirteen Colonies, ordering them to print the Declaration in their newspapers
and generally distribute the news as they saw fit.
The final "handwritten" Declaration of Independence wasn't finished for weeks,
and the delegates didn't sign it until August 2, 1776.
Even then, not all delegates were in attendance, so some signed later.
We all honor July 4th because of the date on the top of our national document.
You could say that July the fourth was the day Congress “went public” with their Revolution.
More accurately, it was the day Congress approved of Thomas Jefferson & Company's final draft
of the Declaration of Independence after a frantic two days of writing and rewriting.
That afternoon and evening copies were printed in Philadelphia.
Two men did sign early printed copies of the Declaration on July 4th
President of the Second Continental Congress John Hancock and his secretary Charles Thomson.
They both signed July 4th copies to be given to military officers and various political committees.
The majority of the other 54 men signed the official copy on August 2, 1776 with others to follow at a later date.
Two signers of the declaration of independence later became U.S. Presidents.
They were John Adams, our second president and Thomas Jefferson, our third president.
And they both died on the same day!
They both died on July 4, 1826 on the 50th Anniversary of our Independence.
James Monroe, our fifth President also died on July 4, just a few years later.
George Washington, representative from Virginia never signed the Declaration of Independence.
Why?
Because he wasn't there!
He was busy serving as Commanding General in the Continental Army.
Another Virginian, Thomas Nelson Jr, was elected to fill Washington's seat in the Second Continental Congress.
So it was Nelson who signed the Declaration of Independence.
Later General Nelson served under General Washington during the siege of Yorktown.
So here's a question.
Whose signature is the most valuable on the Declaration of Independence?
So here's a clue.
It is not John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson or John Adams.
The most valuable signature belongs to a businessman from Georgia.
And his name is Button Gwinnett.
He signed the famous document in 1776.
Ten months later ...
he was killed in a duel with a political rival.
Due to his life of obscurity, and his untimely death, his signature is the rarest of the 56 signers, by far.
According to experts, there are only 51 known signatures in existence by this forgotten founding father.
And the fewer the signatures, the higher the value.
His signature's value is considered to be up there with William Shakespeare.
After years of pent-up frustration,
the colonies let loose upon hearing the words of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Military personnel and civilians in the Bowling Green section of Manhattan tore down a statue of King George III
and later melted it into bullets.
The King's coat of arms was used as kindling for a bonfire in Philadelphia.
And in Savannah, Georgia, the citizens burnt the King in effigy and held a mock funeral for their royal foe.
The fourth of July did not automatically become a national holiday in 1776.
It took almost a century for Congress to make it official.
Congress made Independence Day an official unpaid holiday for federal employees in 1870
along with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day.
In 1938, Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday to employees of the federal government.
Although the Fair Labor Standards Act does not mandate that public sector employers pay their workers for time
not worked, most offer a company benefit with a paid holiday on July 4th.
At the Second Continental Congress during the summer of 1776,
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was charged with drafting a formal statement
justifying the 13 colonies' break with Great Britain.
The document was drafted by a committee of five
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania,
Robert Livingston of New York and Roger Sherman of Connecticut.
Jefferson drew up a draft and included Franklin's and Adams' corrections.
After submission to Congress the draft version of the declaration of independence was edited again
with 86 changes by the whole Congress.
Fifty-six members of Congress eventually signed it.
At the time, the Declaration of Independence was regarded as a collective effort of the Continental Congress.
Jefferson was not recognized as its principal author until the 1790s.
It's time to talk about food!
Americans consume around 155 million hot dogs on the Fourth of July each year.
And they also spend $92 million on chips,
$167 million on watermelon,
and $341 million on beer.
By the way, July 4th is America's top beer-drinking holiday.
The total: Americans plan to spend $6.8 Billion dollars on food and drink for this July 4th.
There have been 27 different official versions of the U.S. flag since the first one in 1777.
Our first official flag had thirteen stars representing the thirteen original colonies.
And the thirteen stars were placed in a circle to represent unity and equality.
More stars were added as each state was entered into the Union.
The current 50-star flag debuted on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii became a state.
Americans who proudly fly “Old Glory” on the Fourth of July
can thank a Lancaster, Ohio Boy Scout for the current design of the flag.
Robert Heft designed and sewed the prototype for a class project at Lancaster High School.
As the famed story goes, Heft's teacher gave him a B-minus on the project, but issued a challenge.
“If you can get the U.S. Congress to accept the flag, the grade will be changed to an A.”
Bob did get his “A” two years later President Eisenhower called him up
to let him know that his design has been selected as the official U.S. flag.
So there you have it. 13 short colonial facts to share with your family and friends
while eating your hot dogs and drinking your beer on our national holiday.
I welcome your comments and suggestions for new marker stories.
If history can be taught with stories
they can never be forgotten.
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