Does America Celebrate the Wrong Birthday? How About July 2nd?

By Charles Burress

What if you discovered that your birth certificate has the wrong date for your birthday?

That could be America's plight.

We know America's birthplace – Independence Hallin Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and signed.

But are we so sure about America's birthday? We celebrate it on July 4, but it was on July 2 that the Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Great Britain.

Patch put the question to UC Berkeley Professor Mark Peterson, who specializes in that era of U.S. history. Peterson cited the letter that John Adams wrote to his wife the next day, July 3: 

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America," Adams wrote. "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."

So how did we end up with July 4th on our national birth certificate?

After the Continental Congress voted to declare independence, it proceeded to deliberate on the Declaration of Independence document that had been drafted by Thomas Jefferson. After working on revisions through the late morning of July 4, the Congress formally adopted the Declaration, which was dated July 4. 

But contrary to popular belief, the Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4. Congress ordered on July 19 that the document be "fairly engrossed on parchment," a process that wasn't complete until Aug. 2, when John Hancock became the first of many delegates to sign it that day, according to a history of the Declaration on the National Archives website. (Some delegates signed it later.)

So when was America really born – July 2, July 4, Aug. 2 or perhaps some other date?

"If it had been up to me, I would have agreed with Adams," Peterson said. "July 2 was the day that the Continental Congress voted to declare independence on behalf of those thirteen colonies – to me that makes it independence day."

'Like' Piedmont Patch on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter @PiedmontPatch