PrintJuly 4, 2008
Declaration of Freedom
What is “independence” Day?The Fourth of July is Independence Day in America. But what is Independence Day? Well, it is firecrackers and hot dogs. It is flags and parades. It is a reminder that the terms “United States” began with the Declaration of Independence. History students know that Thomas Jefferson was more the editor of a committee than an author per se of that document. They know that Philadelphia was not only the city of the Declaration but also of the Constitution thirteen years later. Philadelphia was not just another city in the vast British Empire: Philadelphia was larger than any city in the British Empire except for London; it was bigger than Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, New York, or Glasgow. Nearly all of us know that the Fourth of July was the day in which some men, usually called our Founding Fathers, signed a document known as the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in...(Read Full Article)
