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Sunday 28 September 2014

The Declaration of Independence

Although the Declaration of Independence was dated July 4th, the true US Independence Day was on July 2nd when the Continental Congress approved the legal separation of the 13 colonies from Great Britain  and didn’t sign it until August 2, 1776.


On July 8, 1776,  the Liberty Bell pealed from the tower of Independence Hall summoning the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. The Liberty Bell was not actually rung on July 4, 1776, when the Continental Congress voted to declare independence. This is because the bell was being repaired at the time. However, it is believed that the bell was rung four days later, when the Declaration of Independence was first read aloud to the public.

The Liberty Bell has been rung on many other occasions throughout its history, including to mark the end of the American Civil War, the centennial of the Declaration of Independence, and the inauguration of every U.S. president since George Washington. Today, the Liberty Bell is a popular tourist destination and a symbol of American democracy.


In July 1776, George Washington was in New York with his troops. On July 9, he received his copy of the Declaration of Independence with a note from John Hancock telling Washington to share the news with the troops. After Washington read the Declaration the citizens who had heard the declaration raced down Broadway toward a large statue of George III, toppled it, decapitated it, and then melted it to make bullets.

The Virginia Gazette was the first American newspaper to publish the complete full text of the United States Declaration of Independence. It was published on July 26, 1776, in Williamsburg, Virginia. The newspaper was owned by John Dixon and William Hunter.

The publication of the Declaration of Independence in the Virginia Gazette was a major turning point in the American Revolution. It announced to the world that the American colonies were no longer subjects of the British Crown. It also galvanized support for the Revolution among the American people.

Thomas Jefferson, regarded as the strongest and most eloquent writer, wrote most of the document.

The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.



A parchment paper copy of the Declaration was signed by 56 persons on August 2, 1776; two future U.S. presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, were among the signatories.

Thomas Jefferson purchased a thermometer a few days before signing The Declaration of Independence. He noted that it was 76 degrees on Signing Day in Philadelphia.

John Hancock, president of the Second Continental Congress, was the first signer, and his signature is the largest —  it is almost 5 inches long. It is said that he said he signed his name large so King George III could read his signature without his glasses. The term John Hancock is still used today as a synonym for signature.

Benjamin Franklin, who represented Pennsylvania, was 70 when he signed the document. He was the oldest of the signers. Edward Rutledge, 26, of South Carolina, was the youngest.

The only brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence were Francis Lightfoot Lee and Richard Henry Lee.

William Whipple, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, freed his slave after signing it because he believed one cannot simultaneously fight for freedom and hold another person in bondage.

John Trumbull's famous painting is often identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration, but it actually shows the drafting committee presenting its work to the Congress

The Declaration of Independence refers to Native Americans as "the merciless Indian Savages".

One of the 26 known copies of the United States’ Declaration of Independence was purchased for $2.48. The man purchased an ugly painting for the frame at an Adamstown, Pennsylvania flea market in 1989 and found the declaration behind the painting. He sold it at auction for $2.42 million on June 4, 1991. It was later sold in 2000 for $8.14 million.

The British Parliament still has a copy of the original American Declaration of Independence in its archives.

The house where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence was replaced with a hamburger stand.

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