With the 4th of July tomorrow, I just happened to be reading Brad Meltzer’s First Conspiracy book and I’m at the part of the book where the start of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence are introduced.  Here are some facts I learned from this book that I did not know.

At the beginning of May of 1776, the Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia and began to question what the Continental Army was fighting for. Up to this point in history the colonies were happy to continue life under British rule but with more favorable taxes and concessions.  During the meetings the pro-independence radicals began to gain control of the Continental Congress  and ask why must we continue under British rule?  Why can we not self rule?

The debates led to a consensus to explore the possibility for independence by putting pen to paper and drafting the ideas that were being discussed.  On June 14, John Adams selected a little known delegate, who was only there as a quick replacement for a sick Thomas Payne, to start drafting a document for independence from England.  That 31 year old red headed delegate’s name was Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson was chosen by Adams because of his elegant prose. It took Jefferson fourteen days to draft this “declaration” document and on June 28 John Adams presented Jefferson’s first draft to the Continental Congress. 

The delegates from the 13 colonies spent the day reading the document before debating it. After 3 days of furious debate and minor revisions, on July 2nd, the document was put to a vote. The vote passed, the document was approved. 

After another round of revisions, the wording of the declaration was finalized on July 4 1776.  The colonies no longer considered themselves part of the British empire.  They wanted self government and to rule themselves and this Declaration of Independence was their statement to the world.

Contrary to popular belief, the Declaration of Independence was not signed for another 3 weeks.  In the meantime, two hundred copies were made and sent out to all 13 colonies governing bodies.  One specific copy was sent and received on July 9th by the Commander-in-Chief George Washington in New York City. George Washington was in New York City preparing his rag tagged Continental army for an imminent British attack from British encampments on Staten Island.  That copy of the Declaration of Independence was read to the entire Continental army and everyone cheered. Now the army had something worth fighting for.   Now they were fighting for their independence.

They lost that first revolution battle of New York City to the British but lived to fight another day. And we all know how that turned out.