Happy Independence Day!

[Sailor Steve]

Same thing every year, reminding people that the Continental Congress voted for Independence from Britain on July 2nd, not July 4th.

On June 7th Richard Henry Lee proposed a formal Declaration of Independence.

On June 11th Congress appointed the committee to write the document.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the actual draft and presented it to Benjamin Franklin and John Adams on June 21st.

The Committee presented their revised draft to Congress on July 2nd. Congress voted for independence and then settled down to revise the document further. That night John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail:

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 shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.

On July 4th Congress read their final draft and voted to send that version to the printers. The printed version was released to the public on July 5th. At the top of the paper it said "In Congress, July 4, 1776". Not one delegate wrote anything about it in diaries or letters.

So yes, The vote for Independence took place on July 2nd, not the 4th.