Making it Official: The Day the Declaration of Independence was Signed

[rangerrebew]

Making it Official: The Day the Declaration of Independence was Signed
Posted on August 2, 2016   by jessiekratz


Today’s post comes from Andrew Grafton in the National Archives History Office.

Independence Day in the United States is celebrated on July 4, the day the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence.

If you ask just about any American, they can correctly identify that date.

https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2016/08/02/making-it-official-the-day-the-declaration-of-independence-was-signed/

[Oceander]

August 2nd.

[Texas Yellow Rose]

I also found the following ...

"Congress adopted the ... Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, two days later, on July 4. The president of Congress, John Hancock, and its secretary, Charles Thompson, immediately signed the handwritten draft, which was dispatched to nearby printers. On July 19, Congress decided to produce a handwritten copy to bear all the delegates’ signatures. Secretary Thompson’s assistant, Philadelphia Quaker and merchant Timothy Matlack, penned the draft.    ... which was signed on August 2, 1776.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/delegates-sign-declaration-of-independence