An update from Rep. Ingraham

With the 4th of July just around the bend, many of us will celebrate the day by hosting or attending a picnic or barbecue, enjoying a display of fireworks, watching as a parade goes by, camping with family and friends, displaying our decorations of red, white and blue and proudly displaying our American Flag in honor of the day.

However, the 4th of July is a day that celebrates so much more than parades and barbecues, it is about celebrating America’s independence from Great Britain back in 1776, a time in which the American Spirit was awakened,  a spirit filled with hope, with a heart for their people who not only valued life, but freedom.

So, as you look forward to celebrating the 4th of July, I’d like to share with you once again a bit of our past which links the past with the present of the American Spirit, the American Spirit which still loves her freedom, values life and has a heart for their fellow Americans.

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American Colonies from Great Britain actually occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence which had been proposed in June of 1776 by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.  Richard Henry Lee’s motion calling for the colonies’ independence from Great Britain led to the United States Declaration of Independence from Great Britain.

 After voting for independence, Congress then turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision. On June 11th, the members of the Committee of Five were appointed.  They were, from north to south, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert Livingston of New York, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.  The Committee of Five operated from June 11 to July 5, 1776.  The committee was to draft a broadside statement to proclaim to the world the reasons for taking America out of the British Empire, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author.

In just 17 days the document was formally presented to the Continental Congress and given its first reading, on Friday, June the 28th.   Debates followed and resulted in a favorable vote of 9-2-2 by the Committee of the Whole, and thus a decided majority vote for the declaration assured that a formal declaration of independence was only a matter of agreement to be reached on the timing of its adoption.  That agreement was reached the next day, during the afternoon of July 2nd, whereby the Congress declared the sovereign independencies of the several United Colonies.  Before the end of the day, the Committee of the Whole then turned to the Declaration of Independence and it was given its second reading before adjournment.

On July 3rd, the Committee of the Whole gave the Declaration of Independence a third reading and commenced scrutiny of the precise wording of the proposed text.  However the text’s formal adoption was deferred until the morning of July 4, 1776.

From the outset, Americans celebrated and continue to do so, Independence Day on July 4th     the date shown on the Declaration of Independence rather than on July 2, the date when the resolution of independence was approved in closed session of Congress.  

One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.  

The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the Declaration on the fourth.  However one truth outside of the myth is that for most of the delegates, they actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776.

As you remember our past and how far we’ve come, celebrating America and her independence comes in many forms, and as you barbecue, march in a parade or fill the skies with your fireworks displays, you’re not alone in celebrating the Fourth of July in such wonderful ways, as even John Adams, while thinking that our celebration would occur on July 2, 1776, had much the same thoughts as he wrote 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.”

Enjoy the day, celebrate our Independence and do have a Happy 4th of July!

Now it is your turn to “Keep in Touch” by contacting me regarding your questions or concerns. I can be reached via e-mail at pathd13@blackfoot.net, or call me at 827-4652 or by mail at P.O. Box 1151, Thompson Falls, Montana 59873.