USA: 229th birthday, today, July 2nd

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229 years ago today the Continental Congress declared the United Colonies of North America to be henceforth the United States of America. A sovereign republic of 13 republics. On what became that historic Tuesday, July 2, 1776 during the late afternoon time of day, with the Ascendant in the 16th degree of Scorpio. (SAMVA: 15Scorpio30)

 

Also, it was on that very day that the Sun formed an auspicious exact-to-the-arc-minute conjunction to Sirius in the 21st degree of Gemini, at about the time of the day's sunrise. Sirius, the fixed star known also as the Dog Star, the Sun's Sun. The brightest star in the heavens. Under the influence of Sirius one's actions can have a profound effect far beyond what one might ordinarily expect.

 

And too, only one year before this historic July day in 1776, in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the late afternoon of July 2, 1775, George Washington arrived at the encampment of the Continental Army outside the City of Boston to commence his role as Commander-in-Chief.

 

Unlike any other, George Washington's destiny was to be that of the USA's.

 

 

THREE COMMENTARIES HERE BELOW:

http://www.usflag.org/declaration.html

July 2, 1776 -- Congress declares independence as the British fleet and army arrive at New York.

http://lahore.usconsulate.gov/wwwhbjuly03.html

The momentous decision of the Continental Congress to sever its ties to Great Britain came on July 2, 1776, when the Delegates of the United Colonies of America adopted the resolution, introduced by Richard Henry Lee and John Adams declaring independence from Great Britain - and not on July 4 - the traditional anniversary of American independence.

On July 2, 1776, the United Colonies of America officially became the United States of America. It was July 2, 1776, that John Adams thought would be celebrated by future generations of Americans rather than July 4, the date that Congress adopted the Declaration.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0629_040629_july4_2.html

 

 

U.S. Independence Celebrated on the Wrong Day?

John Roachfor National Geographic News

July 2, 2004

 

On the Fourth of July, millions of U.S. citizens will fire up the barbeque and shoot off fireworks in celebration of the Declaration of Independence, a now-sacred document that declares the independence of what were then 13 united colonies from England. But the Continental Congress voted for the Declaration of Independence on the second of July in 1776. No one signed it until August 2, and the last signatures didn't come until the end of November.

 

"The only thing that happened on the fourth was they approved the document," said Ronald Hoffman, director of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Several members of the Congress who voted for independence never signed the document, and several members who signed the document, were absent when the vote was taken, Hoffman added.

John Adams, the second President of the United States, was in 1776 a delegate to the Continental Congress representing the colony of Massachusetts. He wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail, on July 3, 1776, that "the second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of

America."

Pauline Maier, a professor of U.S. history and authority on the American Revolution, said that "in 1777, Congress didn't think of recalling the event until it was too late to celebrate the second, and the fourth became standard."

And much to the chagrin of Adams—who played an active role in revising drafts of the declaration into its final form—Virginia representative Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the original, took much of the credit as the sole author of the document.

"John Adams's claim to share in the glory of independence was well founded," Maier said. "He did far more than Jefferson to bring Congress to the point of approving separation from Britain."

Coincidentally, Jefferson and Adams both died on July 4, 1826, 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was approved.

"After approving a resolution declaring Independence submitted by Richard Henry Lee on July 2, Congress took up the tabled draft declaration and, as a committee of the whole, edited it, then finally approved the version it had edited on July 4," Maier said.

http://www.thedeclarationofindependence.org/

Congress was called to order on July 1st 1776 at 9am and serious debate consumed most of that hot and humid Monday. Late in the day it was apparent that the delegates from Pennsylvania and South Carolina were not ready to pass the Lee resolution for Independence. Additionally the two delegates from Delaware were split so debate was postponed until the following day.

On July 2, 1776 both Robert Morris and John Dickinson deliberately abstained by not attending the session and the remaining Pennsylvania delegation voted for independence. South Carolina leader's son, Arthur Middleton, chose to ignore his absent and ailing father's Tory wishes changing the colony's position to aye. Finally the great patriot Caesar Rodney with his face riddled with cancer rode all night through the rain and a lightening storm arriving in time to break the Delaware 1 to 1 deadlock by casting the third vote for independence. Thus all 12 colonies voted on July 2nd and adopted the resolution, introduced by Richard Henry Lee and John Adams, declaring independence from Great Britain:

``Resolved, 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 United Colonies of America officially became the United States of America.

It was July 2, 1776 that John Adams thought would be celebrated by future generations of Americans writing to his wife Abigail Adams on July 3, 1776:

"The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. . . . 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."

 

 

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