ref: Wikipedia - Independence Day
On July 2 1776 Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence and gave final approval to the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Declaration meant that the American colonies were legally separated from Kingdom of Great Britain.
Facts and Other Information Related to Independence Day:
- Congress appointed a "Committee of Five", consisting of John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut, to draft a declaration.
- Fifty-six delegates signed the Declaration of Independence, representing The Thirteen American Colonies. The exact date of the different signatures is a matter of historical, sometimes hysterical, debate.
- The Thirteen American Colonies were included (in chronogical order of original settlement): Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island.
- The thirteen colonies became eighteen states by adding the following five:
- Vermont, disputed between New Hampshire and New York then independent republic 1777 - 1791
- Kentucky, part of Virginia until 1792
- Tennesse, part of North Carolina until 1796
- Maine, part of Massachussetts until 1820
- West Virgina, part of Virginia until 1863
- Fifty-six delegates signed the Declaration of Independence, representing The Thirteen American Colonies
