4 JULY

Fourth of July Facts and Fictions

Can Americans imagine celebrating their independence on July 2 instead of July 4? Or marking their nation's birth with National Horsefly Day? And what about that secret message on the back of the Declaration of Independence in the Nicolas Cage movie National Treasure? Does it really exist?

The history and folklore of Independence Day reveal surprising facts and great stories of triumph and struggle, as well as situations with more than a bit of humour. As Americans celebrate with barbecues, fireworks, and even beach parties, Encyclopædia Britannica reminds us of a time when Americans celebrated Independence Day with different rituals--such as mock funerals! What's that all about? Read on.

Why did John Adams predict that July 2, not July 4, would go down in history as U.S. Independence Day?

Why did John Hancock sign his name so large on the Declaration of Independence?
Should Independence Day be renamed National Horsefly Day?

Is there really a hidden message on the back of the Declaration of Independence as portrayed in the movie National Treasure?

Why were mock funerals so popular during the early celebrations of Independence Day?
Didn't the original draft of the Declaration include a condemnation of slavery?

What's the special tie between Independence Day and the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams?

1) Why did John Adams predict that July 2, not July 4, would go down in history as U.S. Independence Day?
The Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia actually voted on and approved independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, which is why John Adams proclaimed, in a letter to his wife, "The Second Day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable...in the History of America." Adams, of course, was wrong. The day celebrated as U.S. Independence Day is July 4, when the Continental Congress met and approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence.
2) Why did John Hancock sign his name so large on the Declaration of Independence?
Legend has it that, when Hancock signed his name to the Declaration in his very bold script, he proclaimed something to the effect of "There, I guess King George will be able to read that!" The truth is that Hancock often signed his name in this extravagant manner, and, as president of the Continental Congress, it seemed fitting for his signature to be featured prominently in the middle of the top row beneath the document. Also, contrary to the impression given by John Trumbull's famous painting about the Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence, the chamber was nearly empty when Hancock affixed his name to the draft of the Declaration approved on July 4 and sent that evening to a printer, John Dunlap, who then produced the famous "Dunlap Broadsides" announcing the Declaration. (Twenty-five copies of the broadside are known to exist.) In fact, Hancock was the only person to sign (and thereby authenticate) the final draft of the Declaration that day, and the only person to witness the event, Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress, never claimed to have heard Hancock say anything while signing the document; it was not until an August 2 meeting that most of the delegates signed an official copy of the Declaration "fairly engrossed on parchment." (This is the version, with 56 signatures, on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.) Hancock's flashy signature, nonetheless, has become a national treasure in its own right: his name has become a synonym for one's signature, and the boldness of his script is a symbolic reminder as well as reflection of the boldness of America's act of defiance in declaring independence from the mighty British Empire.
3) Should Independence Day be renamed National Horsefly Day?
Over the years some observers, such as Thomas Ayres in That's Not in My American History Book: A Compilation of Little-Known Events and Forgotten Heroes (2004), have made this tongue-in-cheek suggestion because of the role played by some nasty horseflies that had invaded Independence Hall during the debate over the wording of the Declaration of Independence. The flies were apparently so annoying that, to escape their bites and the sweltering heat in the room, the delegates perhaps hastened their vote to approve the Declaration. Jefferson was reportedly fond of telling this story about these pesky but politically important pests, and the humorous nature of the situation--with dignified statesmen, in wigs and stockings, mopping their brows and swatting at flies as they made history that momentous July 4--was portrayed in the award-winning musical 1776 (1969).
4) Is there really a hidden message on the back of the Declaration of Independence as portrayed in the movie National Treasure?
Yes and no. The 2004 movie starring Nicolas Cage suggests that on the back of the Declaration of Independence is a secret treasure map with clues to the location of a lavish treasure hidden from the British by the American Founding Fathers. In truth, there is something written on the back of the document, but it's not a coded message that's part of a treasure map: it's a simple phrase, on the bottom of the document, written upside down, that says, "Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776." While no one knows who wrote it, it's known that the large parchment document was frequently rolled up for storage as it was moved from one hiding place to another during the Revolutionary War and later moved from capital to capital until settling in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. So it's likely that the notation was simply a label identifying the rolled document.
5) Why were mock funerals so popular during the early celebrations of Independence Day?
In the early stages of the American Revolution, when the colonists still considered themselves loyal English citizens, patriots protested primarily against the English Parliament, which passed laws they hated, and not against the king, whom they viewed as the defender of English liberties. But by July 1776 it was the king who had become the focus of colonial anger and who was called a "tyrant" by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. This is why, during the early days after the Declaration of Independence, towns celebrated the American break with England by holding mock funerals for the king. His symbolic death signified an end to tyranny and the rebirth of liberty.
6) Didn't the original draft of the Declaration include a condemnation of slavery?
Yes. When Congress received Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence, the delegates actually spent little time on his opening paragraphs, which today are the most famous parts of the document. Instead, they debated and revised the last sections of Jefferson's draft, deleting--most significantly--a condemnation of the British people and a denunciation of the African slave trade. The latter section was dropped because it offended Southern slave owners and New England merchants involved with the slave trade. It was generally felt that a unanimous vote in favour of the Declaration was critical to the American cause and that such a vote might be impossible without dropping these sections.
7) What's the special tie between Independence Day and the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams?
Adams and Jefferson were the ultimate "odd couple," united in their desire for American independence but divided on virtually every other issue. In fact, Jefferson even went so far as to pay a journalist to libel Adams, and, after Jefferson defeated Adams in the election of 1800, the two men didn't speak to one another for nearly a decade. They renewed contact with one another in 1812, began a fascinating correspondence, and, then, in one of the great ironies of history, died on the same day--July, 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the event that defined their lives and the life of their young country. Jefferson's last words were, "Is it the Fourth?" while John Adams on his deathbed proclaimed, "Thomas Jefferson still lives." Adams, as when he predicted that July 2 would be celebrated as America's Independence Day, was wrong again, for Jefferson had died a few hours earlier. But in a symbolic sense, Adams was correct--Jefferson, in his seminal contributions to American history as well as his complex legacy, lives on today.
© Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.