This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Happy Birthday America: A Brief History of Independence Day

Tracing the history of Independence Day from 1776 and forward.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…”

The words above are some of the most powerful that have ever been written. That first line on a piece of parchment changed world history back in 1776 and they continue to do so centuries later.

With one simple document, The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and his radical, revolutionary comrades laid the foundation for the birth of a new nation which would go on to become the most powerful country in the world.

Find out what's happening in Dundalkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Although the “Shot heard ‘round the world” was fired on April 19, 1775 just as the sun was rising in Lexington, Massachusetts, thus beginning the American Revolutionary War, an official declaration of explanation was not made until more than a year later.

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress calling for the consideration of sovereign independence of the United Colonies. The “Committee of Five” consisting of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston were appointed on June 11 to draft a document listing the grievances and reasons for independence.

Find out what's happening in Dundalkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Almost immediately, Adams and Franklin began to lobby the other committee members that Jefferson should be the one to author the document, and he reluctantly agreed to do so. After 17 days, and many changes from Franklin and Adams, the committee formally presented the document to the Congress on June 28.

After much debate and several word changes, the Declaration was adopted on July 4. Years later, artist John Trumbull was commissioned to paint a picture of the scene of the official presentation of the document to Congress for signatures. The original small painting is in the Yale University Art Gallery. The much larger 12-foot-by-18-foot oil on canvas copy can be seen in the Capitol Rotunda.

The Maryland connection to the Declaration is that its four representatives to Congress all signed the document.

They were:

Charles Carroll of Carrolton, who later became a U.S. senator from Maryland. Carroll has the distinction of being the last surviving signer of the Declaration, passing away in 1832 at the age of 95.

Samuel Chase, who went on to become an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. Chase was impeached from the court for allegedly letting his partisan politics influence his decisions. He was later acquitted. Chase died in 1811.

William Paca, who later became governor of Maryland and then a federal judge, died in 1799.

Thomas Stone remained a delegate from Maryland for many years. He later served on the committee that formed the Articles of Confederation. He acted as President of the Congress in 1784 and died in 1787.

Locally, in eastern Baltimore County, we also have connections to the Declaration. As mentioned in a previous column, Moses Galloway (for whom Galloway Creek is named) served on the committee that appointed  the four representatives from Maryland,  Carroll, Chase, Paca, and Stone, to the Continental Congress.

Many members of the Stansbury Family (one of the pioneering families in eastern Baltimore County) have been reported as distinguishing themselves in the Revolutionary War.

Regarding  celebrations honoring Declaration's signing, we have a great many events on the timeline.

Held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July parade in Bristol, R.I. is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration held in the United States.

In 1781, the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize the Fourth of July as a state holiday.

The year 1791 marks the first use of the term Independence Day. In 1870, the U. S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees. Finally, in 1938 Congress made Independence Day a paid federal holiday.

One of the more relaxing things about the holiday is the opportunity to see one of my holiday-related movies several times over the weekend.

There is the Hollywood production of the Broadway hit musical 1776, including favorite character actors such as Howard Da Silva as Ben Franklin, William Daniels as John Adams and Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson appear in this release. Although Hollywood does at times take theatrical license in telling historic events, it portrays the events leading up to the passage and signing of the Declaration with keen accuracy.

So no matter what your plans are this weekend, be they family cookouts, watching fireworks, watching movies or whatever, please do it safely. Happy birthday, America!

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?