Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July to all my friends and family. Enjoy this time off (for those that get some) with your family and friends. Remember what this day represents and pray for all those that are serving our country so that we can have a day of celebration.

A little bit of History:

When was the Declaration of Independence, the copy we know and have seen, signed?




Although independence was voted by congress on July 2, the copy we have seen was not signed until sometime after August 19th of 1776. Here is what wikipedia.org had to say about it:

The United States Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, announcing that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration was a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.

Contrary to a once-common misconception, Congress did not sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Declaration was first published as a printed broadside; the famous handwritten version was created after July 19, and was signed by most Congressional delegates on August 2. This copy, usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is now on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

Although celebrated upon publication, the Declaration was initially neglected following the American Revolution. Its symbolic stature grew over the years, most notably through the influence of Abraham Lincoln, who viewed the Declaration as an ideal for which the nation should strive...

To learn more about our Declaration of Independence, you can go here.