Montauk Pioneer - July 4, 2008

July 4th is the day that America celebrates its independence. The dictionary states that independence is "freedom from the influence, control or determination of another or others." This independence that we celebrate is actually celebrating the time that America became independent from England. England's King George III ruled the thirteen colonies that were settled here in America. The colonies did not like the taxes they had to pay to England because they had no say in any of the decisions regarding these taxes. King George felt that there may be problems arising so he sent over troops to America in hopes that this would control any rebellions. In April, 1775 King George sent these troops to Concord, Massachusetts. You might have heard of the famous ride of Paul Revere. This is when he made his midnight run to warn everyone that the British were coming. For the next year, the colonies tried to work things out with England with no success.

In June 1776, a committee was formed that was led by Thomas Jefferson. This committee would come to write the Declaration of Independence. Some of the other committee members were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Philip Livingston. These men put together the first draft to present to Congress. Changes were made in different areas of this document and then on July 4, 1776 a vote was taken to see who was in favor of this and who was not. Out of the thirteen colonies, nine were in agreement. South Carolina and Pennsylvania voted no against it and Delaware was undecided about it. New York simply declined to vote.

The first person to sign the Declaration of Independence was John Hancock who was the President of the Continental Congress. I bet you've always wondered why his name was signed so big and so fancy. He did this on purpose so that the King of England would be able to clearly see without having to use his glasses.

On July 6, 1776 two days after it was signed, it was printed in the Pennsylvania Evening Post, the first newspaper to publish this document. The first reading of the Declaration took place on July 8, 1776 in Independence Square in Philadelphia. The Liberty Bell that is in Independence Hall was actually called the Province Bell back then. They renamed the Liberty Bell due to its inscription which reads "Proclaim Liberty Throughout All The Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof".

Did you know that although we celebrate our independence from England on July 4, the Declaration was not completely signed until August of 1776?

The very first celebration of July fourth took place the following year in 1777. No one is really sure what festivities took place at that first celebration and others that followed but by the early 1800's it was celebrated much like we do today with picnics, parades and fireworks.

Today the original document of the Declaration of Independence is exhibited in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in Washington, D.C. One of the signers of this document is William Floyd who was born in Brookhaven, New York. He was State Senator in 1808 and was a member of the Suffolk County Militia. That's an interesting fact about a Long Island native and I'm sure you'll remember that the next time you're on the William Floyd Parkway. Now that you know why we celebrate the fourth of July, I hope you will appreciate what our fore fathers did for us so many years ago and enjoy your holiday!