During
the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring
the United States
independent from Great
Britain . After voting for
independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement
explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated
and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A
day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The
second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America .
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the
great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of
deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be
solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells,
bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from
this time forward forever more.
Historians
have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of
Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on
that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly
a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly
believed.
Coincidentally, both John Adams
and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later
to serve as Presidents of the United States ,
died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the
Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, but
another Founding Father who became a President, James Monroe, died on July 4, 1831, thus becoming the third
President in a row who died on the holiday. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born on July 4,
1872, and, so far, is the only U.S. President to have been born on Independence
Day