July 2, 2013 --

... if John Adams had had his way. July 3, 1776 Adams predicted, in a letter to his wife Abigail, that July 2 -- the day when the colonies united to approve a resolution severing their political ties with Great Britain--would mark America's "great anniversary Festival." Congress, on June 28, 1870, thought differently, setting July 4 as our national holiday. July 4, 1776, of course, was the day the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. Did the Declaration of Independence trump the Resolution on Independence? LPR wonders if a kind of consensus developed that "The Second of July" was too jarring phrase, compared with "The Fourth of July."

This year, July 4 falls on a Thursday, as it did in 1776. LPR has seen nothing to indicate that the Congress assembled July 4, 1776 left, after approving the Declaration, for a long-weekend, but LPR has seen speculation that the Declaration was approved in the morning, not late in the afternoon, which would support the notion that July 4, 1776 marked our first national long weekend, particularly as it appears that the signing of the Declaration occurred about four weeks later and did not happen right after the vote was taken, as suggested by the musical 1776.

The Resolution and the Declaration were both approved with 12 colonies acting jointly in favor.

It was not the United States of America that separated from Great Britain but the "united States of America." The lower case "u" in "united" makes a difference, indeed. On each vote, New York abstained, waiting about a week to join the other colonies in declaring independence from Great Britain.

One of the charges in the Declaration against King George III might pose a problem for leftists in 21st century America.

The Declaration said of King George, in part: "he has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harrass [cq] our people, and eat out their substance."

Indeed, today's leftists might well conclude that this charge indicated that the Founding Fathers, basically, were anti-government. After all, what is it that leftists generally do, on gaining political power, if not erect multitudes of new offices for the purpose of harassing the people and consuming their substance?