By Mia
Happy Birthday to the United States of America!!!!
Wait… Have you ever wondered why we celebrate the 4th of July and what the significance of the date actually is? This might situate you a little better with the significance of this glorious day:
The Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. They’d been working on it for a couple of days after the draft was submitted on July 2nd and finally agreed on all of the edits and changes.
July 4, 1776, became the date that was included on the Declaration of Independence, and the fancy handwritten copy that was signed in August (the copy now displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.) It’s also the date that was printed on the Dunlap Broadsides, the original printed copies of the Declaration that were circulated throughout the new nation. So when people thought of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 was the date they remembered.
In contrast, we celebrate Constitution Day on September 17th of each year, the anniversary of the date the Constitution was signed, not the anniversary of the date it was approved. If we’d followed this same approach for the Declaration of Independence we’d being celebrating Independence Day on August 2nd of each year, the day the Declaration of Independence was signed!
So have you all been fooled by the date that was included on the Declaration of Indepence? Have you just never cared enough to research the details? Did you just not want to pass up on another day to be with family and friends, have the day off of work, or relax by the pool? …Is that a resounding yes?
Just kidding! I actually used to think this too!
So, in celebration of the APPROVAL of the edits and changes to the Declaration of Independence that occurred on July 4th, 1776, the following is a list of some insightful and important reads anyone curious about the history of the United States should look into around anytime of the year!
#1 The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, & James Madison ~ Fall River Press
#2 The Anti-Federalist Papers ~ Signet Classics
#3 The Constitution of the United States of America with the Declaration of Independence ~ Fall River Press
#4 The Gettysburg Address and Other Writings by Abraham Lincoln ~ Fall River Press
#5 How the States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein ~ MJF Books
#6 The Other Slavery by Andrés Reséndez ~ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
