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—Editorial—
Celebrating Our Freedoms
This weekend as we barbecue, watch or participate in parades or shoot off fireworks, let's not forget the reason we celebrate the 4th of July.
Through decades of civil strife, military rebellion, acts of heroism and treachery and differences of opinions between defenders of the old government and supporters of the new, our nation finally came together on July 4, 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
A brief history: The Declaration was submitted by a committee of five, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. It was written by Jefferson and changes were made by Franklin and Adams before it was submitted to Congress.
On July 1, 1776, Congress convened. The discussion in Congress resulted in some alterations and deletions, but the basic document remained Jefferson's. The process of revision continued through all of July 3 and into the late morning of July 4. Then, at last, church bells rang out over Philadelphia; the Declaration had been officially adopted. Most of the delegates signed the Declaration Aug. 2, 1776.
John Hancock, the President of Congress, was the first to sign the sheet of parchment measuring 24- 1⁄4 by 29- 3⁄4 inches. He used a bold signature centered below the text. In accordance with prevailing custom, the other delegates began to sign at the right below the text, their signatures arranged according to the geographic location of the states they represented.
The first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence were turned out from the shop of John Dunlap, official printer to the Congress. On the morning of July 5, copies were dispatched by members of Congress to various assemblies, conventions, and committees as well as to the commanders of Continental troops.
Only 40 years after the ink was first affixed to parchment, the signatures began to fade and the Declaration went through numerous preservation attempts and had many homes, from humble lodgings to government offices before reaching its current destination at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Its ink may have faded, but its meaning and intent have remained intact.
This Independence Day take a few moments to ponder the freedoms we are celebrating and if you haven’t read the Declaration since high school, this might refresh your memory:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
To learn more about our National Treasure visit http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/ declaration.html.
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