Are We Celebrating Our Independence on the Wrong Day?

A Boston building with a rich history is the Old State House, one of numerous historic sites visitors to Boston see on a Boston Duck Tour. It was built in 1713 and served as the seat of colonial government in the years before the American Revolution. It was from the balcony of the Old State House that the Declaration of Independence was first read to citizens of Boston on July 18, 1776. It took two weeks for a courier on horseback to bring a copy of the document from Philadelphia.

It was built in 1713 and served as the seat of colonial government in the years before the American Revolution. It was from the balcony of the Old State House that the Declaration of Independence was first read to citizens of Boston on July 18, 1776. It took two weeks for a courier on horseback to bring a copy of the document from Philadelphia.

Most folks believe we declared our Independence from England on July 4, 1776. That is not true. The delegates to the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, voted to declare the independence of the thirteen colonies on July 2, 1776. They had been debating the issue for several weeks. On June 11, 1776, just case they would decide to break from England, the delegates appointed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence. The committee gave the task to Thomas Jefferson. On June 27th he finished his draft and the following day it was read to the delegates.

On July 2, the Continental Congress voted for independence. John Adams, a delegate from Massachusetts, declared that July 2 would forever be remembered and celebrated yearly as the most important day in our nation’s history. It didn’t work out that way. For the next two days, the delegates carefully studied Jefferson’s draft. They changed the wording of some parts, deleted other parts, and added a few things. But overall, the work remained mostly Jefferson’s.

On July 4, John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, and Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, signed the approved document. The following day, 200 copies were printed and sent by couriers throughout the colonies. On July 18, a copy reached Boston.

On July 19, 1776, the Congress voted to commission a handwritten copy of the Declaration on parchment. On August 2, the delegates signed the parchment copy. This is the document that is now in the National Archives. Every year, on July 4 (not July 18) the Declaration of Independence is read to Boston’s citizens from the Old State House balcony.

The Old State House is open to the public and houses a fine museum of colonial history. It is well worth visiting after taking a Boston Duck Tour.

Photo by U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Patrick Gearhiser [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons