what actually happened on July 4, 1776 that causes us to commemorate that day rather than any other day in the history and birth of our country?
Dave’s Answer: This is a great question, actually, because you’re right that there was a lot going on in the years around 1776 in the United States and I think a lot of people have this sense that on July 3, 1776 we were a colony of England and on July 5, 1776 we were the United States of America, done deal, let’s get back to business. The truth couldn’t be more different! What happened on July 4, 1776 was that the Declaration of Independence was signed by our so-called Founding Fathers, a group of rebels that had gotten sick of English rule by proxy (especially the whole issue of taxation without representation, which was the basis of the Boston Tea Party rebellion) and were willing to risk death by hanging for sedition by putting their names on the document.
