Story Highlights
- Historicel event:
- 4 July 1776
- The Declaration of Independence is important as one of the first official documents in history that emphasizes human rights. This is best seen in the following sentence: “ 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." It is interesting that Thomas Jefferson, who formulated that sentence, was a slave owner and had as many as 130 slaves.
Independence Day is celebrated on this day in the United States because the famous Declaration of Independence by which the states seceded from Great Britain was adopted on that day in 1776.
The author of the original text of the Declaration was the famous Thomas Jefferson, later president of the United States.
The Declaration of Independence is important as one of the first official documents in history that emphasizes human rights. This is best seen in the following sentence: “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”.
It is interesting that Thomas Jefferson, who formulated that sentence, was a slave owner and had as many as 130 slaves.
The declaration was accepted on this day at a meeting of the American Congress in Philadelphia, in the building now known as Independence Hall.
After the Declaration was approved by the U.S. Congress, that very evening was delivered to the printing shop of John Dunlap, located just a few blocks away, who printed about 200 copies. They were sent across the country to be disclosed to a wider population.
It is interesting that the Declaration was not signed on this day, as is commonly thought, but almost a month later, on 2 August 1776.
It was signed by 56 people, who are now celebrated in the U.S. as the so-called “Founding Fathers”. Among the signatories were the famous inventor Benjamin Franklin, the future President John Adams, and John Witherspoon (ancestor of the actress Reese Witherspoon).
As president of the Congress, John Hancock was the first who signed it, with a large energetic signature. Today, the common phrase “John Hancock” is a synonym for a signature in American culture.
Interestingly, out of 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, only one was Catholic – Charles Carroll – while the other 55 were either Protestants or other Christians.
