History of Independence Day: Was the Declaration of Independence really signed on July 4, 1776?

Declaration of Independence

Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE DAY Part of the series on America 250, the US Semiquincentennial Podcast version   [In my previous article, I wrote about Thomas Jefferson, a man of paradox: liberty-loving slaveholder, Indian-loving relocationist, publicly frugal and privately bankrupt, a constitutional conservative who bought the Louisiana Territory in 1803.]   ndependence Day, also known as…

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History of the 4th of July: Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Reading Time: 7 minutesHISTORY OF THE 4th OF JULY: THOMAS JEFFERSON Part of the series on America 250, the US Semiquincentennial Podcast version   [In my previous article, I wrote about John Adams, the first Vice President of the United States under George Washington, the second President of the United States, the first resident of the White House,…

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History of John Adams

John Adams

Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF THE 4TH OF JULY: JOHN ADAMS Part of the series on America 250, the US Semiquincentennial Podcast version   [In my previous article, I discussed Ben Franklin, the most multidimensional Founding Father, a self-made gentleman-scientist who was the most famous American in Europe]   efore John Adams became the first Vice President of the…

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History of Ben Franklin: The Original Founding Father?

Ben Franklin

Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Part of the series on America 250, the US Semiquincentennial Podcast version   [In my previous article, I discussed Alexander Hamilton, who founded America’s first political party, the Federalist Party.]   e know this polymath as a writer, publisher, printer, merchant, scientist, moral philosopher, international diplomat, and inventor. He invented the…

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History of Independence Day

Declaration of Independence

Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE DAY Independence Day, or the Fourth of July celebrates the adoption by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, of the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the severance of the allegiance of the American colonies to Great Britain. It is the most significant secular holiday in the United States, observed in all the…

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