Happy Belated Independence Day America
So when I first started my other blog, I did histories of all the holidays...but somehow I missed July 4th. AKA Independence Day.
Except its not really.
So heres the story, way back in 1776 a bunch of well off and influential soon to be ex British subjects met to declare their independence from England. They finally got the document written up on July 4th, ALL of them signed the thing and they sent it off to King George, and told him to go fuck off (originally the wording had been SOD off, but they decided that sounded too British). And of course the Ballsiest member of the group signed his name in huge letters, to the point that american slang for a signature is still "John Hancock"
Now of course there is massive amounts of americana backing this up For example, inside the US capitol rotunda hangs this massive depiction of the event:
So I understand your skepticism when I tell you NONE OF THIS EVER HAPPENED.....or at least not the way you think.
So for starters the painting in the picture above is not actually of the signing of the declaration of independence.....its of the presentation of the declaration of independence to the full congress prior to their vote to pass it.
And even then.....its not accurate. So that painting was started in 1817, but was depicting an event that took place on June 28th 1776.....so as you might expect, it features many inconsistencies.....such as many of the people depicted in the picture were not in the congress (or even in the country in a couple of cases at the time), the artist had used artistic license to depict a commonly accepted group of founding fathers rather than the people actually present at the time.
Furthermore, the actually presentation probably didnt resemble what was depicted at all, even if the people had been accurate.
Also worth noting, the document that would have been presented on June 28th wasnt the finalized declaration in the first place....it was a draft that would later be edited and become the declaration as we know it today.
Now however, the fact that a draft existed on June 28th is also important....it means the delegates had already at least entertained the idea of Independence.
Entertained it as it turned out, to the point they didnt actually wait until the draft was finalized, and on July 2nd 1776, the continental congress, and 12 of the 13 colonies voted for Independence from England.
Two days later, they voted on the finalized language of what would become known as the Declaration of Independence.
However this would make July 2nd and not July 4th the real american Independence Day, as argued by no less an authority than the documents co-author, and future president John Adams.
Now not only is Independence Day not when you have been taught, the Declaration of Independence that we all know, isnt an original.
The original was sent to King George III....because its really hard to tell someone to fuck off, without actually informing them of your desire to have them fuck off. And the original would have only needed to be signed by a single person, the president of the Continental Congress, and therefore Defacto Head of State, John Hancock.
Thats why Hancocks signature was so big....it was the only one that was supposed to be on the damn thing....and the only one on the copy received by King George.
Except its not really.
So heres the story, way back in 1776 a bunch of well off and influential soon to be ex British subjects met to declare their independence from England. They finally got the document written up on July 4th, ALL of them signed the thing and they sent it off to King George, and told him to go fuck off (originally the wording had been SOD off, but they decided that sounded too British). And of course the Ballsiest member of the group signed his name in huge letters, to the point that american slang for a signature is still "John Hancock"
Now of course there is massive amounts of americana backing this up For example, inside the US capitol rotunda hangs this massive depiction of the event:
its also on the back of a two dollar bill:
Hell theirs the declaration of Independence itself:
So for starters the painting in the picture above is not actually of the signing of the declaration of independence.....its of the presentation of the declaration of independence to the full congress prior to their vote to pass it.
And even then.....its not accurate. So that painting was started in 1817, but was depicting an event that took place on June 28th 1776.....so as you might expect, it features many inconsistencies.....such as many of the people depicted in the picture were not in the congress (or even in the country in a couple of cases at the time), the artist had used artistic license to depict a commonly accepted group of founding fathers rather than the people actually present at the time.
Furthermore, the actually presentation probably didnt resemble what was depicted at all, even if the people had been accurate.
Also worth noting, the document that would have been presented on June 28th wasnt the finalized declaration in the first place....it was a draft that would later be edited and become the declaration as we know it today.
Now however, the fact that a draft existed on June 28th is also important....it means the delegates had already at least entertained the idea of Independence.
Entertained it as it turned out, to the point they didnt actually wait until the draft was finalized, and on July 2nd 1776, the continental congress, and 12 of the 13 colonies voted for Independence from England.
Two days later, they voted on the finalized language of what would become known as the Declaration of Independence.
However this would make July 2nd and not July 4th the real american Independence Day, as argued by no less an authority than the documents co-author, and future president John Adams.
Now not only is Independence Day not when you have been taught, the Declaration of Independence that we all know, isnt an original.
The original was sent to King George III....because its really hard to tell someone to fuck off, without actually informing them of your desire to have them fuck off. And the original would have only needed to be signed by a single person, the president of the Continental Congress, and therefore Defacto Head of State, John Hancock.
Thats why Hancocks signature was so big....it was the only one that was supposed to be on the damn thing....and the only one on the copy received by King George.
Now later that night, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and fellow co-authors Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston commissioned a printer named John Dunlap to print hundreds of copies to be distributed up and down the colonies. Of those hundreds only 26 still exist, and yet the declaration we are familiar with, wasnt one of them.
That declaration would be commissioned AFTER July 19, once the 13th and final colony (new york) voted for independence. However this copy wasnt ready for the congress until August 2nd 1776.....when the first person (other than Hancock) finally signed the thing.
And although their is some disputes over who signed when, one thing is for certain, the 55 men who signed the document were never in the same room at the same time. At least 8 of them hadnt been elected to congress at the time, and another 7+ had been their in July, but away in August but would return later (and presumably signed then). Finally as a "fun fact" one of the bills 5 authors, Robert Livingston, never got around to signing the thing (ditto for other members who actually voted for independence on July 2nd).
What all of this means is that the copy of the Declaration as we know was signed over a months or years long time...and that the date of the document itself was only the date it was written....not the date independence was declared.
So there you have it, the true story of America's independence, and with that said: Happy Belated Independence Day America
And although their is some disputes over who signed when, one thing is for certain, the 55 men who signed the document were never in the same room at the same time. At least 8 of them hadnt been elected to congress at the time, and another 7+ had been their in July, but away in August but would return later (and presumably signed then). Finally as a "fun fact" one of the bills 5 authors, Robert Livingston, never got around to signing the thing (ditto for other members who actually voted for independence on July 2nd).
What all of this means is that the copy of the Declaration as we know was signed over a months or years long time...and that the date of the document itself was only the date it was written....not the date independence was declared.
So there you have it, the true story of America's independence, and with that said: Happy Belated Independence Day America
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