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HISTORY
At the time of
the signing the US consisted of 13 colonies under the rule of
England's King George III. Leading up to the signing, there had
been growing unrest in the colonies surrounding the taxes that
colonists were required to pay to England. The major objection
was "Taxation without Representation" -- the colonists
had no say in the decisions of English Parliament.
Rather than negotiating, King George sent extra troops to the
colonies to help control any rebellion that might be arising.
The following timeline will give you a crash course in the
history that lead to the signing of the Declaration of
Independence and America's break from British rule.
1774 - The 13 colonies send delegates to Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania to form the First Continental Congress. While
unrest was brewing, the colonies were far from ready to declare
war.
April 1775 - King George's troops advance on Concord,
Massachusetts, prompting Paul Revere's midnight ride that
sounded the alarm "The British are coming, the British are
coming."
The subsequent battle of Concord, famous for being the
"shot heard round the world," would mark the
unofficial beginning of the American Revolution.
May 1776 - After nearly a year of trying to work our their
differences with England, the colonies again send delegates to
the Second Continental Congress.
June 1776 - Admitting that their efforts were hopeless, a
committee was formed to compose the formal Declaration of
Independence. Headed by Thomas Jefferson, the committee also
included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston and
Roger Sherman.
June 28, 1776 - Jefferson presents the first draft of the
declaration to congress.
July 4, 1776 - After various changes to Jefferson's original
draft, a vote was taken late in the afternoon of July 4th. Of
the 13 colonies, 9 voted in favor of the Declaration; 2,
Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted No; Delaware was undecided
and New York abstained.
John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, was the
first to sign the Declaration of Independence. It is said that
he signed his name "with a great flourish" so
"King George can read that without spectacles!"
July 6, 1776 - The Pennsylvania Evening Post is the first
newspaper to print the Declaration of Independence.
July 8, 1776 - The first public reading of the declaration
takes place in Philadelphia's Independence Square. The bell in
Independence Hall, then known as the "Province Bell"
would later be renamed the "Liberty Bell" after its
inscription - "Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land
Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof."
August 1776 - The task begun on July 4, the signing of the
Declaration of Independence, was not actually completed until
August. Nonetheless, the 4th of July has been accepted as the
official anniversary of United States independence from Britain.
July 4, 1777 - The first Independence Day celebration takes
place. It's interesting to speculate what those first 4th
festivities were like. By the early 1800s the traditions of
parades, picnics, and fireworks were firmly established as part
of American Independence Day culture.
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