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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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