Happy 4th of July
Photo of the Moulton Tower dedication Friday Oct. 8, 2010. | Photo credit Press-Register/Victor Calhoun
Today marks the 237th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. This holiday is celebrated on July 4th to honor the date when the delegates agreed, after two days of debate, on the wording of Thomas Jefferson’s text.
The Declaration was signed by a majority of the 56 delegates a month later on August 2, 1776.
“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,” the final edition of the Declaration read.
Those poetic words were enough to spark a riot in New York. When the future George Washington read the words from a copy of the Declaration that had it to the city on July 9, the cheering crowd at City Hall would proceed to dismantle a statue of King George III. The metal from it would later be used to make about 42,000 musket balls for the Continental Army.
Happy Independence Day America. May we forever be the land of the free and the home of the brave. Have a happy and safe 4th of July Jaguar Nation.