Inbet you’re thinking that July 4 is America’s birthday, not Januaryn14!
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Andnyes, July 4, 1776, is the traditional date given for America’s birth.nThat is, after all, when the 13 American colonies formally declaredntheir independence from Britain. (Mind you, the Revolutionary War hadnbegun more than a year earlier, with the battles of Lexington andnConcord, and there had been more than 90 state and localn“declarations of independence” from Britain in the first half ofn1776. Congress had also already passed a resolution urging states toncreate their own, non-British, independent governments. The formalndeclaration that we call THE Declaration of Independence was writtennin June of 1776, but July 4 is the date when the American Congressnvoted to adopt the Declaration. It wasn’t actually signed untilnAugust 2, and of course it took time to send copies to Europe,nincluding to Parliament and King George III!) n
Andnyes, July 4, 1776, is the traditional date given for America’s birth.nThat is, after all, when the 13 American colonies formally declaredntheir independence from Britain. (Mind you, the Revolutionary War hadnbegun more than a year earlier, with the battles of Lexington andnConcord, and there had been more than 90 state and localn“declarations of independence” from Britain in the first half ofn1776. Congress had also already passed a resolution urging states toncreate their own, non-British, independent governments. The formalndeclaration that we call THE Declaration of Independence was writtennin June of 1776, but July 4 is the date when the American Congressnvoted to adopt the Declaration. It wasn’t actually signed untilnAugust 2, and of course it took time to send copies to Europe,nincluding to Parliament and King George III!) nn
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Butnthere is a good reason to count today as the true birthday of thencountry, because this is the anniversary of the ratification of thenTreaty of Paris, in 1784. When Congress ratified the treaty, thenRevolutionary War was finally officially over, and the U.S. wasnfinally officially a self-governing nation.
Butnthere is a good reason to count today as the true birthday of thencountry, because this is the anniversary of the ratification of thenTreaty of Paris, in 1784. When Congress ratified the treaty, thenRevolutionary War was finally officially over, and the U.S. wasnfinally officially a self-governing nation.n
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nInguess we can all agree that it was a long and difficult birth!
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nEvennthis ratification was a bit difficult…
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nThenContinental Congress was in session. Every delegate was in favor ofnratifying the peace treaty. People were delighted to declare the warnover and to go on with the business of governing the new nation.
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nSonwhy was the ratification difficult? n
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NorthnAmerica was suffering from the coldest winter then on record, withnheavy snowfall in some areas, so delegates from only seven states hadnmanaged to make it to the Continental Congress sessions. The rule wasnthat delegates from at least nine states had to agree to signing antreaty. People discussed and discussed again what to do—whether ornnot the British would feel that the Americans were “cheating” ifndelegates from nine states hadn’t ratified, whether or not the ruleneven applied in this particular case, and what options there were tonfix the problem. Finally Congress settled on a compromise, a sort ofnPlan A / Plan B, and they scheduled the vote even though there werennot enough delegates.
NorthnAmerica was suffering from the coldest winter then on record, withnheavy snowfall in some areas, so delegates from only seven states hadnmanaged to make it to the Continental Congress sessions. The rule wasnthat delegates from at least nine states had to agree to signing antreaty. People discussed and discussed again what to do—whether ornnot the British would feel that the Americans were “cheating” ifndelegates from nine states hadn’t ratified, whether or not the ruleneven applied in this particular case, and what options there were tonfix the problem. Finally Congress settled on a compromise, a sort ofnPlan A / Plan B, and they scheduled the vote even though there werennot enough delegates.n
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nAtnthe last second, delegates from Connecticut and South Carolinanarrived, and delegates from nine states took the completelynabove-board and legal vote to ratify the treaty. Whew—crisisnaverted!
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nAlsonon this date:
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nDress Up Your Pet Day
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nHotnFoods Month
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n“Old” New Year in the Slavic countries