equal

John Adams was a smart man. He eventually became President of the United States, so I'm sure he was no intellectual slouch back in 1776 when he told his wife that July 2nd, "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." Missed it by that much... (They'd probably use it against him if he were running for office today.)

July 2, 1776 was the day the Continental Congress voted on a resolution of independence from the British Empire. A day to be remembered for sure. It was a couple of days later though that the actual declaration was approved. Interestingly enough, the famous document we see today isn't the original. Get this, right after the vote was taken on the fourth, someone ran it over to ye olde print shoppe to get copies made and they lost it!! Sure enough, in all the excitement, someone set the original aside and accidentally threw it away! I'd hate to be known as the guy who lost the Declaration of Independence.

So, in a few days, around July 19th, a scripted copy, the one that now sits at the National Archives in Washington, DC, was brought in and everyone, including John Hancock, finally got around to signing it on August 2nd.

As sacred and special as that document is to us now, in the early days right after its publication it was pretty much a neglected piece of paper. It was a good ol' Kentucky boy who first decided to give it the rightful place of honor and admiration it enjoys today. Thank you Mr. Lincoln.

John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman and Thomas Jefferson were the committee tasked with working on the original draft. Tom took the initiative to do most of the actual writing, and a few of his earliest attempts are still around today. The working title, and the one approved by the Congress was, "A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled." Doesn't roll of the tongue so nicely.

By the way, there were only thirteen colonies back in those days, and the vote wasn't immediately unanimous. New York was the hold out until finally joining in on July 9th. They should have to hold off on the fireworks for a week.

The very first words of the preamble set the tone for what is to come, "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."

All of mankind! That's a lot to live up to.