July 2, The Real Day Of Independence
July 2nd is actually America’s #IndependenceDay
Our Independence was not the product of the Declaration of Independence, signed by John Hancock on July 4, 1776. On the contrary, the Declaration of Independence was the product of our Independence!
On June 7, 1776 a delegate from Virginia by the name of Richard Henry Lee proposed the “Lee Resolution.” The Lee Resolution was the 3 step process of declaring independence from our then government of Great Britain. The first clause of the Lee Resolution proposed:“That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved;”
On July 2, 1776 the Lee Resolution was brought to the Continental Congress floor. It was debated, voted, and ratified into law by 12 of the 13 colonies, New York abstaining because the delegates claimed they were unsure of how their constituents wanted them to vote. Upon ratification of the Lee Resolution, our 13 colonies, became 13 independent sovereign governments. We were from that day forward no longer colonies, each State was then and there independent.
Our Independence Was a Legally Created Legislative Act just as binding as anything our Congress does today that is Constitutional.
Without the passing of the Lee Resolution, there would have been nothing to declare in the Declaration of Independence. As a matter of fact, the Declaration of Independence does not even claim to be the source of our independence, it merely boasts to be its declaration:
“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly PUBLISH and DECLARE…”
The Declaration of Independence then goes on to quote the first clause of the Lee Resolution in its text.
Our founders did not establish July 4th as Independence Day, that was an honor given to July 2nd. John Adams documents this honor in a letter to his wife, Abigail on July 3, 1776:
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, 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 Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
It Wasn’t Until 1870 That July 4th Became the National Holiday for commemoration of our independence.
Have a Blessed Celebration of Independence from a former tyranny and the subsequent building of a union of States in the name of Liberty First!
