Show U LY andoci ati jg 0 ara aly A ly A jJ Jt by ELMO SCOTT WATSON SK the average american what took place on july 4 1770 find be with a somewhat vague recollection of 0 what he once learned in the ills tory books at school and a similar remembrance of what be saw in the painting signing the declaration of independence pen dence by john trumbull probably will answer you in something of this fashion why that was wag the day that we declared our freedom from england when thomas jefferson the author of the declaration of independence wrote that flat immortal doci document ament la in which he be said aid that all men are born bora tree free and equal after he bad written it he presented it to the continental congress and john hancock signed it in that bold band handwriting writing which the king of england could read without spectacles then the members of congress washington and franklin and john adams and nd all the others signed it it after that they road read it to the people outside independence hall and the patriots cheered and rushed away to ring the liberty bell until it was cracked that of course ts Is a rather tree free translation of a composite american idea about the historic events which gave wi us our greatest national holiday the one hundred fifty first anniversary of which Is being celebrated all over the country on july 4 1827 1027 like so many other composite ideas usually characterized as popular beliefs it fo also a composite of notion fiction and fact despite all that has been written about the declaration of independence and tile signing thereof few americans unless they be professional historians to have a clear cut idea of just what did take place on that day and even among the professional historians there la Is some desp element caused by difference in the interpretation of words and phrases here aro are a few feets facts and a bit of chronology which mily may make the matter clearer It richard lebard henry lee certainly has some ome claim to thare share the title of author of lot the declaration of independence pen dence with bis big fellow virginian thomas jefferson for on june 7 1770 he presented to the continental con gress cress hla his resolution which begins resolved that theme hiene united colonies are kr and ot 0 ought to be b free re and independent that they are absolved b from rom all alle clance to the th british crown and that all political connection between them slid and the th state star of B great britain in I 1 and ought to be b totally dissolved this rg as one historian has pointed minted out was a pure declaration of independence pen dence it was wa promptly seconded by john adams of massachusetts but when considered by a committee of th the whole no action was waa taken upon it because some gome of the members member felt that the colonies were not yet rendy ready for or to so radical a step on june 10 congress voted to postpone final action on the resolution until july L on june 11 12 a committee composed of thomar jefferson benjamin franklin john adams roger sherman Sli erman and robert it II livingston was appointed to papare prepare a formal declaration of independence pen dence and have it ready in case it was wanted it WM was at the time ot of the postpone meet meat ot of action on a reho resolution lution of independence that I Frankl lu uttered one of hla his most famous sayings when the postponement was proposed in order to give certain delegates time to receive instructions from froin their colonies as to what their attitude toward independence should he be and to make pure anre of the necessity necess iry of acolon on the matter franklin re imar sed dryly we W must all hang bong to gether or assuredly we shall all bung bang separately when the committee came to decide who was wa to write the declaration tt it was finally agreed that JQ jefferson fferson should do it it la Is said that jefferson explained to franklin the reason why he as a their senior was not asked to write it was waa that it was feared ho be could not resist the temptation to put a joke into it and the declaration was serious business I 1 although stories differ on the manner of selecting the writer the tha fact remains that jefferson did write the first draft and the desk upon which he wrote it shown above Is still preserved it Is 1 interesting to note that this desk was tor for a long time in the possession of a man named coolidge john coolidge of boston and at hla big death by his will it passed into the custody of congress this first draft of the tha declaration which Is often reproduced shows also the handwriting of franklin find end adams who made a few minor corrections in it jefferson later gave cave tt it to richard henry lee and in 1625 1825 his grandson presented it to the A merican american philosophical society of philadelphia which later entrusted it to the custody of the patent office in washington after franklen Frankl ln and adams had made their changes on the first draft jefferson wrote a of cond copy incorporating their amendments and presented it to tile the committee which reported it unchanged to congress on july 1 the date set get by congress for considering a declaration of independence the original resolutions offered by richard henry lee first came up tor for consideration before congress acting as a committee of the whole the formal vote was taken the next day july 2 and the resolutions were approved by ft A two thirds vote delegates from delaware pennsylvania and south carolina voted in the negative and those from new york having no instructions from their colonies 0 did not vote so under one interpretation terp july 2 should be independence pen dence day for it wits wag on that ditto date that the colonies declared their independence pen dence and the declaration of independence pen dence denee which they adopted through their representatives wall waft that written by richard henry lee instead of thomas jefferson and was not the document so BO revered by americans american at all 11 I 1 in tact fact tf if the tha suggestion of john adams had been followed we would now be celeb celebrating on july 2 instead of july 4 in commenting upon the tha momentous act of adopting lees independence resolution adams adama said gold the second day of july ita 1773 will be 19 the most memorable epochs in the tha history of america it ought to be commemorated as it day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to god almighty it ought to be solema lied with pomp and parade shows games cames sports guns bells bella bonfires and illuminations illumination from one end of this continent to the tha other from this time forward forevermore 1 july 3 and aad 4 were spent by congress in discussing the draft of the declaration of independence presented by jef ferfon femon acting for tho the committee there was a lively debate which ended la in the striking out of the paragraph accusing king georgo george of piratical warfare and a few other comparatively unimportant lines then on july 4 the delegates from 12 colonies col onlea who bad been authorized to vote for inde pen dence agreed upon the final draft after the amendment had been ancor borated po rated which was wag to be printed that thai night in the form of a poster by john denlap a printer for public dis tribu tion the feature of poster politer according to one historian ties lies in the fact that franklin changed chanced the th small email u in united to a capital making the new dew nation the united states of american instead of the united states of america As aa to the signing of the declaration of independence there Is where the popular belief Is most at fault this declaration adopted on july 4 1770 16 was signed by just two men job john hancock Hancoc te president of congress cong repa and charles thomson secretary charles thomson never heard of mint the average american Amerlean would say yet for all that he Is neglected by history he Is an important character ua he was secretary of both the first and second continental congresses congress eq and it was he who first rend read the declaration to a group of patriots according to one story this took place on july 4 when ho he stepped outside the statehouse stat chouse as soon foon as he and hancock had bad signed tile the document and read it to a handful of citizens who stood flood around and who made no ao extraordinary demonstration thereat according to another account this ibis did not occur until july 8 after congress had sent copies of the declaration la to the various colonies col onlea pennsylvania of course got her copy first and at noon on july 8 thomson stood on a w wooden platform la in the state ghate house yard it had been placed there incidentally to la 1709 to enable an aa astronomer one david rittenhouse to observe a transit of venus and rend read the declaration to a vast crowd of citizens these citizens cheered tile the reading then sped away to pull down the royal arms in the courtroom and to ring the liberty bell As for the fiction of ringing the liberty bell until it cradled cracked that mishap however did not occur until 1835 when it was waa being tolled for the death of chief justice john Il marshall arshall now tor for the actual signing of the th declaration of independence after it had been adopted on july 4 an engrossed copy on parchment tor for all tho the delegates to sign was ordered the man who held the pen and formed the letters on this copy the one which Is preserved today in the national shrine in the library of congress was wa timothy matlack Mu the best penman in the office of charles thomson secretary of the continental congress it was completed by august 2 and aad on that hat date was signed by 61 54 6 1 delegates Two others signed later they were thomas mckean of deleware who wc was absent with his regiment in the continental army at the time of the tb signing on august 2 and matthew thornton of new hampshire thornton was not elected to congreso con gresi until the autumn but in november he was wa permitted to sign and thus made the total of the SO 56 signers of the declaration of independence As aa for the other errors to in the stati ment of the average american quoted at the beginning of this article the phrase aalt metr are born bom tree free and equal does not occur in the declaration that phrase to Is often confused with the statement all men are r created equal which does appear la in the I 1 famous document the born free and equal wording Is I 1 in the constitution of I 1 massachusetts framed in 1779 9 and no doubt inspired by the statement in the th declaration george washington of course wits wag not a signer of the declaration of independence at the time the continental congress congre was in philadelphia declaring independence he was in cambridge mass welding together that hut continental army which wits was to make good the ilie declaration lie was a signer of the constitution after the revolution devolution and tile the fact no doubt that ills name naine appears on this im mortal document leads to the idea that lie ile was also a 4 signer of lia im cortani document |