Fourth of July Trivia

[djrockinsteve]

What Happened on July 4th, 1776?

Think carefully scholars. I'll post the answer tomorrow. Those students that get it right may play outside an extra half hour tomorrow.

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

The Declaration of Independence was officially adopted.

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

i guess i should quantify my statement...
This was the day that the amended Declaration of Independence, prepared by Thomas Jefferson, was approved and signed by John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress in America.

 

[Green Mountains]

I'm going with Bham, I recall something like that happening.

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

More trivia - John Hancock signed large and in the middle of the page so "Fat King George can read it with out his spectacles". LOL.

 

[Runningwolf]

Bham beat me to it and took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[JohnT]

Other trivia..

1) Ben Franklin wanted the Turkey as our national bird.

2) The Declaration (as Thomas Jefferson wrote it) was largely based on the Virginia Colonial Constiution.

3) The motion for independence was made by "light-horse" Henry Lee of Virginia.

3) The creation of the declaration was a delaying tactic. Once the motion was made, passage of the motion would require a unanimous vote to carry. The declaration served as a method to delay and win over the vote.

4) The true motive for declaring independence was to assure France that we were commited to the cause and would not reconcile with England. This served to increase French support to our cause.

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

Our government also owes a lot to the Native Peoples of the Six Nations (Iroquois Confederacy). I knew the U.S. Constitution was influenced by them, but it seems that the Declaration of Independence was as well!

 

[JohnT]

However, most native american tribes sided with the British (can't say that I blame them).

 

[djrockinsteve]

UBG knows his history, but as Paul Harvey says, there's more to this story.

 

[Tom]

NOTHING!!
One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.[8][9] The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the Declaration on the fourth.[10] Most delegates actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776.[11] In a remarkable series of coincidences, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two founding fathers of the United States and the only two men who signed the Declaration of Independence to become president, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the United States' 50th anniversary.

 

[myakkagldwngr]

I just wish we could bring those "founding fathers" into the future for just a day or two and let them stick a few bottle rockets up the rears of our politicians today.
Where ever they are sitting right now, they are probably shaking their heads in disbelief.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Tom is the wise one here but no, something did happen on July 4th, 1776. However basically he is correct with "nothing".

I'm still holding out till tomorrow for "the rest of the story".

Tom gets an A+

 

[djrockinsteve]

Excellent work guys. Here is what happened on July 4th, 1776. Almost what Tom stated.

We were taught that the Declaration of Independence was signed 7/4/1776 however that was off by almost a month. What had been drafted a month earlier by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Ben Franklin was the Declaration. It was then formally addopted by the Second Continental Congress, then meeting at the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

The only signers that day were the congressional secretary Charles Thompson and John Hancock. What they signed was a draft.

After this official approval, the document went to the printer John Dunlop who published it as a broadside for distribution to the colonies. Within days it had been proclaimed publicly in Philly.

On July 9th in New York (the only colony which so far had not ratified it) did so which made the document unanimous. Not until July 15th that Congress ordered it "engrossed" on parchment, in the form we now know it as. The parchment copy was made and on August 2nd, 1776 (almost a month after it's adoption) was finally signed by 50 assembled delegates.

There were some stragglers that came in the fall.

From the Encyclopedia Americana 1980 and thanks again for your input. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE. HAVE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE HOLIDAY.

 

[Tom]

OK so, What did I win being "almost" right?

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

Actually...
Although everyone didn't sign on July 4, 1776, the one person that mattered, did sign on that day. John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress, by signing, "approved" this version of the Declaration, officially adopting it and accepting it as the one that our country would be built upon.

​

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

Top 5 Myths about the 4th of July.

 

[djrockinsteve]

OK so, What did I win being "almost" right?

Round 2

How Long Did The Hundred Year War Last?

 

[winemaker_3352]

Round 2

How Long Did The Hundred Year War Last?

The 100 Years' War was actually a series of conflicts between France and England that began in 1337 and ended in 1453 (116 years).

 

[Tom]

MAN !
U have to much time on your hands !
The 100 Years' War was actually a series of conflicts between France and England that began in 1337 and ended in 1453. It began with Edward III claiming to be not only King of England but King of France as well. It ended, without a treaty, with the English in possession only of the town of Calais. 116 years!