July 4th was just one step on the path of the start of a new country that became known as the United States of America. That road was longer than many people today realize

On June 11, 1776, a committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston was promptly chosen to prepare a statement justifying the decision to assert independence, should it be taken. The document was prepared, and on July 1 nine delegations voted for separation. On the following day at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, with the New York delegation abstaining only because it lacked permission to act, the Lee resolution was voted on and endorsed. (The convention of New York gave its consent on July 9, 1776 (exactly 250 years ago today) and the New York delegates voted affirmatively on July 15.) On July 19 the Congress ordered the document to be engrossed as “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.” That was accordingly put on parchment, probably by Timothy Matlack of Philadelphia. Members of the Congress present on August 2 affixed their signatures to this parchment copy on that day and others later.


So even with the recent holiday fireworks and parades over for this year and most modern Americans moving on, I continue to celebrate (in my own way) the path of the founding of this great country in which my own ancestors helped to create.