John Adams believed that July 2nd was the correct date on which to celebrate the birth of American Independence. Adams would reportedly turn down invitations to appear at July 4th events in protest.
On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of Lee’s resolution for independence in a near-unanimous vote. On that day, Adams wrote to his wife Abigail that July 2nd “will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival” and the celebration should include “Pomp and Parade…Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other.”
July 4th, is the day Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence. From then on the 4th became the day that was celebrated as the birth of American Independence.
Charles Thompson and the infamous John Hancock were the only two men who actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The official signing occurred on August 2, 1776, when a majority of delegates signed it. Thomas McKean did not sign until January 1777.
Two of America’s Founding Fathers also did not sign the Constitution: Thomas Jefferson (who is largely regarded as the main author) was representing the country in France and John Adams was doing the same in Great Britain.
George Washington, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison are typically considered as "Founding Fathers", but are not signers on the Declaration of Independence.
Although we know Thomas Jefferson as the primary author, the Continental Congress appointed five people to draft the declaration. The committee included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston and Thomas Jefferson.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
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