Here is some background about our Independence Day many may not be aware of:
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. 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. Most delegates actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776. 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.
In addition to the Fourth of July, the 27th of July is the anniversary of the end of the Korean War, frequently referred to as the ‘Forgotten War.’ The 1950-53 conflict cost America 33,651 killed in action and 103,284 wounded. More than 1.5 million American men and women fought in Korea. Here at VetJobs our prayers and thoughts go out to the Korean War veterans and their extended families for the sacrifices they sustained to protect our federal republic and our free market economy.
