Joseph Fouché discusses the various candidates for America’s independence day:
July 2, 1776 was the day that the Second Continental Congress voted to declare the thirteen unoccupied British North American colonies (the Bahamas, Nova Scotia, and Canada had been reoccupied by British troops) independent of British rule. This makes it one of the stronger candidates for America’s independence day. Others include:
- October 19, 1781 – British surrender at Yorktown
- September 3, 1783 – Treaty of Paris recognizing American independence signed
- January 14, 1784 – Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris
- January 8, 1815 – American victory in the Battle of New Orleans
- June 23, 1865 – last Confederate unit surrenders, ending the War of the Rebellion
Given all of those choices, July 4 it is.
I spent my high-school years in Exeter, New Hampshire — which was the colonial capital at the time of the revolution. I found it very charming that their Independence Day parade isn’t until July 16th, the date New Hampshire’s printed copy of the Declaration arrived from Philadelphia and was read to the townspeople.
To clarify, Exeter was the capital of New Hampshire during the revolution:
The Continental Congresses were held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then the largest city in the colonies.