July 4th Declaration of Independence Trivia

(1) It's two days late! The 2nd Continental Congress declared independence on July 2, 1776. John Adams wrote to his wife on July 3, "The 2nd day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable...in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary Festival." The Declaration of Independence document was basically a written affirmation of the Congress's verbal proclamation. The Declaration signings began on July 4.

(2) When did all the Founding Fathers sign their names to the Declaration of Independence? July 4, 1776? No. Only two, John Hancock and Charles Thomson signed on July 4. On August 2, a majority of delegates signed it. It wasn't until 1781 that the final delegate, Thomas McKean, signed his name. Extra credit: At the time of their signing, John Hancock was the President of the 2nd Continental Congress, and Charles Thomson was its Secretary.

(3) Who wrote the Declaration? Thomas Jefferson, who, at age 33, was the youngest member of the Continental Congress. Extra credit: How long did it take him to complete the original draft? Seventeen days.

(4) How many changes were made to Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration? 86 (Damned editors!)

(5) Slavery would have been abolished in the Declaration of Independence had Jefferson's anti-slavery paragraph not been deleted due to pressure from colonies profiting from this trade in human flesh. It read: "(King George III) has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce: and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, & murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another..."

(6) All 13 colonies voted in favor of declaring independence, right? Wrong! The delegates from New York abstained (with the emphasis on "stain")! They claimed that they had not been granted the authority to vote yea or nay on independence. Extra credit: Delaware's delegates, on the issue of independence, had deadlocked 1-1. The third Delaware delegate, Caesar Rodney, a Brigadier General in the Delaware militia, had earlier been forced to return to Delaware to put down a Loyalist riot. Loyalists were those colonists who opposed independence and remained loyal to England and King George III. Upon hearing of the deadlocked vote, he rode 80 miles through a raging thunderstorm to cast the deciding vote in favor of independence, putting Delaware firmly in the pro-independence column.

(7) Where did Jefferson write the Declaration? The home of a Philadelphia brick mason, Jacob Graff. Jefferson had rented the second floor of the three-story brick house. The writing itself, according to Jefferson, was done on a portable mahogany lap writing desk of his own design (the first laptop word processor?). Extra credit: He used a quill pen, which was made from the stiff, flight feathers of a goose. Extra extra credit: According to www.netaxs.com, "Inks were made from berry juice mixed with vinegar and salt, from chimney soot mixed with honey and egg yolk, and from walnut shells or swamp maple bark steeped in boiling water." And you people complain about the inconvenience of changing your printer's ink cartridge!

(8) Where was the first public reading of the Declaration? Philadelphia's Independence Square, on July 8. Extra credit: The second reading was also there, as It was read twice.

(9) Were the colonial army troops inspired by the Declaration? I'd say so. After hearing the Declaration read to them in New York City by George Washington, the troops, along with some citizens, tore down a statue of King George III and melted the lead down to make bullets.

(10) What happened to the original Declaration, how was it transported, and where is it today? Thanks to www.archives.gov (and since it is information disseminated by an official federal agency, we know that it is fair, balanced, and above all, the TRUTH), "The Declaration of Independence spent many years on the road. After the signing ceremony on August 2, it was most likely filed in Philadelphia. On December 12, threatened by the British, Congress adjourned and reconvened 8 days later in Baltimore, MD, where the document remained until its return to Philadelphia in March of 1777. In the years to follow, it traveled widely with the Continental Congress throughout the Northeast, then moving to Washington, DC in 1800. In 1814, again threatened by war, it was moved to an unused gristmill in Virginia for protection. On August 24, as the British burned the White House, it was moved to Leesburg, VA until September, when it returned to the nation's capital. With the exception of a trip to Philadelphia for the Centennial and to Fort Knox during World War II, it has remained there ever since."

"The document has also experienced many modes of travel. Initially, like other parchment documents of the time, the Declaration was probably stored in a rolled format. Each time the document was used, it would have been unrolled and re-rolled. It likely traveled by light wagon and by horseback with the Continental Congress it its early years. When it was first brought to Washington, it traveled by boat, down the Delaware River and Bay, out into the ocean, into the Chesapeake Bay, and up the Potomac to the new capital city. During World War II, it was moved by Pullman train to Louisville, KY and transferred under armed guard to Fort Knox for safety and protection."

Extra credit: According to www.thedeclarationofindependence.org, "Contrary to popular belief, two original July 5th, 1776 (Philadelphia printer John) Dunlap printed broadsides with only Hancock and Thomson's names were the actual documents delivered to King George III notifying him of the resolution to absolve all ties with Great Britain. King George III never received a signed copy with a John Hancock’s signature large enough for him to read without his spectacles. The other names of the signers were not made public until 1777."


The concept of 'Top 10' lists is overused and boring. Let's start an exciting, NEW format, guaranteed to spark controversy and stimulate the reader, entitled 'The Bitter Analysis Top 11 List'. In order to firmly establish this brilliant idea, I humbly submit Number 11, perhaps the most important Declaration of Independence trivia of them all. Will someone please inform the watchdogs of journalistic integrity, 'Showbiz Tonight', 'Larry King Live', and 'FOX & Friends' so they can give Number 11 the publicity it so richly deserves? Also, CC the Pulitzer Prize committee, as it would be unseemly for me to submit it myself.


(11) What well-known actress, alive today, is related to one of the original 56 signers? Reese Witherspoon. She is a direct descendent of John Witherspoon! Extra credit: She is Hollywood's highest paid actress, commanding $15 to $20 million per film!! Extra extra credit: Reese is available again, guys. In 2006, Witherspoon filed for divorce from Ryan Phillippe, citing irreconcilable differences (oh please, Reese darling, give us the juicy details!) On June 12, 2008, Reese and Ryan finalized their divorce!!! One might opine that it was Reese's own Declaration of Independence!!!!