OCR Text |
Show Miscellany Independence Day. In view of the fact that tine forty-eight forty-eight states of the Union, together with Porto Rico. Hawaii and Alaska, will celebrate cele-brate the Fourth of July as Independence clay, it is interest insr to note how this imtion-wiiie holiday came to he celebrated and what it should signify to all Americans. Ameri-cans. .July the fourth is now a holiday commemorating com-memorating the birthday of the nation, for on th.it date in 1 7 7t the continental congress of the thirteen colonies of America Amer-ica adopted the Declaration of Independence Indepen-dence which proclaimed them free and independent, slates, absolved from all al-Ugiiince al-Ugiiince to the British crown. The original orig-inal of this "Mrth certificate." written y hand on parchment, and now, much worn and faded, is- preserved carefully in an air-tight and iighl-proof case in the library of the department of state. Only facsimiles are exhibited today, the original orig-inal being far too precious a document to risk in the light ard air. A facsimile1 of the declaration Is on exhibition ex-hibition in the division of history in the oHer building: of the national museum at Washington. Where there are also preserved pre-served pe.sona! reMcs and mementos nf Severn 1 of the memhers of the second continental con-tinental congress wiio signed this great resolution. Ti;e h;sto-y of the origin and drafting of the de; laraih'Ti is of onsid--rahIe interest. inter-est. In the second continental congress, wht' h was meetinr in Philadelphia, Kir-nurd Henry l.ee of Virginia, on .June T. 1,7. introdu.-ed the following resolution, whu-h was se'-on"Icd by .lubn Adams: " Resolved, That these united colonies are. and of riht ought to be. free and In-I' In-I' "-pemVm s:at"s; that thev are absolved :!-.m nil alk-.iamv !u the British crow::, I :-r.l thai ai! juhrica! .'...nretlun h-twee!1 :.:.(.-m an- the state of (lixat Britain it. and n'x'rit to be. totally d ..-solv.-d. i "T - 'a t it i exped ien : fort h wit h to ta ke ;he most effectual measures for forming ; 'orc:gn allianres. "Tint a plan of confederation be pre-. pre-. Tared and transmitted to respective . eulon:.- for their approbation." i i.'on.-lderation of this resolution was ; postponed, and on June 11 Thomas Jef-j Jef-j :--rs-m, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin. Roger Sherman and R. R. Livingston ; were appointed a committee to prepare a ; declaration to serve as a preamble to i this independence resolution. This com-; com-; mi t tee, known as the Jefferson eommit-j eommit-j tee, submitted a draft of the declaration on June 2S. which was iaid on the table for later consideration. On July 1 con- ' gress. sitting as a committee of tne whole to consider the reflation respecting respect-ing independence, agreed thereto, and reported re-ported it to con uress. On Julv 2 the resolution itself was adopted by congress and the declaration was considered by the committee, ot the whole, being again taken up the next dav, I July 3. On July 4 the declaration, which included in-cluded the first paragraph of the resolution, resolu-tion, was agreed to by the committee of tiie whole, reported to congress, and adopted. The Independence of the united colonies was thus declared, and thereupon there-upon congress immediately ordered that the declaration be authenticated and printed under the supervision of the committee com-mittee previously appointed to prepare it, and that copies thereof he distributed to all state assemblies and to the commanding command-ing officers of the army. In accordance with the above order.' the declaration was Issued as a printed broadside broad-side on July 5, with the heading: "In Congress July 4, 1776. A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America In General Congress Assembled." As-sembled." It bore the name In print of John Hancock, president of the congress, and was attested by Secretary Charles Thomson, but bore no other names. On July 19 It was resolved in congress: con-gress: "That the declaration passed on the 4 th be fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and stile (style) of 'The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America.' and that same, when engrossed, be signed by every member mem-ber of congress." It could noi have been headed "unanimous" "unani-mous" on July 4, for the New York delegates dele-gates had not then been authorized to agree to it, and it was not until July 15 that tt was announced in the continental congress that the assembly of New York had approved the declaration, and thus made It unanimous. On August 2, 1776, the Declaration of Independence, being engrossed and compared, com-pared, was signed by the members, those who were not present on August 2 affixing affix-ing their signatures at later dates, all but one signing before January IS, 1777. It has been ascertained that of tho fifty-six signers, more than one-fourth were not present on July 4, 1776, and seven of them Thornton, Williams, Rush, Clymer, Smith, Taylor and Ross were not members on thatdate. On the other hand, seven members on that date i George Clinton, John Alsop, R. R. Llv- I ingston, Henry Wisner, Thomas Willing, I Charles Humphreys and John Rogers j had not the privilege of becoming "signers," "sign-ers," for the membership of all bttt one had ceased prior to August 2. The first official issue of the declaration declara-tion bearing the names of the signers was printed as a broadside in Baltimore under the resolution of January IS, 1777, ordering that copies be sent to each of the United States. There are only four copies of this issue now known lo exist, one of which Is in the library of congress at Washington. It is authenticated in writing by John Hancock as president ot the congress and attested by Secretary Thomson. Contrary to popular opinion, therefore, it is seen that the declaration was not signed on July 4, the day it passed' but between August 2, 1776, and January 18, 1777, after it had been engrossed and compared, and then only by fifty-five members, all of whom were ordered to do so by the resolution passed July 19, 1776. The name of Thomas McKean, which doeu not appear among the signers in the printed copy, was added later possibly not until 17S1, making the fifty-sixth signer. But little has ever been done to perpetuate per-petuate the memory of these fifty-six early Americans, only a few of whom are well known, but it is interesting to know that the Natfonal Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, in cooperation co-operation with the Society of Descendants of the Signers, is locating the graves of those patriots and preparing a memorial volume to include a biography of each individual. in-dividual. The collections in the national museum include relics pertaining to the lives of nine of the signers. They are John Hancock, Han-cock, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Matthew Thornton, Oliver Wolcott, Charles Carroll. Benjamin Franklin El-bridge El-bridge Gerry and Samuel Chase. Smlth-sonan Smlth-sonan Institution article. , |