Fun Facts about The Declaration of Independence

Written by Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin

This past weekend’s holiday prompted me to reread the Declaration of Independence. Its true brilliance and timeless nature never ceases to fill me with awe and pride. Many communities have a public reading of the document at some point over the holiday weekend. I believe this tradition is something worth pursuing for our Village.

The following is the first two paragraphs of this great document followed by some facts relating to the men and events at its inception:

The Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That, to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed. That, whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles and organizing its Powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

• Of the 56 signers, eight were born in Britain

• The youngest was Edward Rutledge of Charleston, S.C. who was educated at Oxford in law. He continued a lifetime of government service culminating in the Governorship of South Carolina. He died at age 50.

• The oldest was Ben Franklin at age 70.

• Jefferson is credited as the author of the Declaration of Independence. Actually he was part of a five person committee appointed by the Continental Congress to write it. They included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman.

• Though a member of the writing committee, Robert Livingston refused to sign the document as he believed it was too soon to declare independence.

• After Jefferson wrote an initial draft, the other members of the Declaration Committee made 86 changes including shortening the overall length by more than a fourth.

• Jefferson was quite unhappy about some of the edits. He had included language condemning the British promotion of the slave trade (even though he was a slave owner), but this language was removed over his vehement objection.

• One of the most widely held misconceptions is that it was signed on July 4, 1776. In fact, independence was formally declared on July 2, 1776 a date that John Adams believed would be “the most important epoch in the history of America.” On July 4 1776, Congress approved the final text of the Declaration. It wasn’t signed until August 2, 1776.

• When George Washington read the document aloud in front of New York City Hall, a raucous crowd cheered and then subsequently tore down a nearby statue of George III. The statue was then melted down and shaped into 42,000 musket balls for the fledging American Army.

• There are five references to God in the Declaration of Independence.

• We were often taught that the primary reason the American colonists revolted from British rule was related to taxes, but “taxation without representation” is the 17th among 27 reasons given for succeeding.

• The Declaration of Independence spent World War II in Fort Knox. Two weeks after Pearl Harbor, both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were packed in 150 pounds of protective gear and escorted via train by Secret Service agents to Louisville.

• Only one President, Calvin Coolidge, was born on the Fourth of July, but three of the first five Presidents: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe died on Independence Day.

Photo: Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin. Photo credit: Contributed