The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1920-06-25

II II SlICtiC VI iliiahNiHhAo
congress was assembled, for
= was known that the final
h ~ vote on the Declaration OF
Co Independence would be taken
thu; day. Since the hour of the as
senbly of congress the old belman
Of the Liberty Bell In Independence
Hell had been In the steeple. He had
placed his little grandson at the door
to give him the word when the an
nouncement should be made. As hour
after hour passed by and no announce
rent came the old man shook his head
and said sadly, "They will never do
T."
Suddenly shout cane up from be-
BOW and there stood the little blue
eyed lad clapping his hands for joy
and shouting. Ring, grandfather,
ring!"
So the old grandsire swung the big
iron tongue and the Liberty Bell,
changing 100 times, sent its brazen
fotes throughout the lard proclaiming
that the United Colonies were and Of
right ought to be free and inedepend-
ent, and there was tumult of re-
joiclng in the city,
This In effect IL the first Fourth Of
July, as many an American schoolboy
hns been taught It. 1t reads wei! and
there is a thrill In 1t. But 1t has one
large fault---it isn't true. AS matter
of fact there wasn't any real Fourth
of July Celebration" at all in 1776.
There couldn't be, for the reason that
the Declaration of Independence was
a continuing operation that lasted
pretty much the whole summer Of
that year. Incidentally, its culmina-
don was July 2, instead of July 4.
Moreover, 1t was not until 1777 that
July was fixed upon as "the day we
celebrate" And II was In TIT in
Philadelphia that the first Fourth Of
July celebration was held,
To get the history of the Declara-
ton Of Independence straight, we must
start with the fact that the American
Revolution was not begun for the
achievement of independence, The
American colonists began with the idea
Of securing the right guaranteed them
as Englishmen by Magma Charta, the
Bill of Rights. and their own charters.
The idea of separation and independ-
ence was an afterthought and an out
growth of the hostilities faced by the
British at Lexington and Concord.
The historic declaration of the citi-
zens of Mecklenburg county, North
Carolina, IN May. 1775, was one of the
earliest manifestations of the trend OF
public opinion. In January Of 17I6,
Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common
Sense" appeared and gave the move
ment a tremendous impetus. June Z,
1776. Richard Henry Lee, under in
structlons from, Virginia, presented to
the contlnenta. congress his famous
resolution which reads:
Resolved, That these United Colo
MES are and OF right ought 70 be. free
and independent states; that they are
absolved from all allegiance to the
British Crown. and that all politira
connection betgeen them and The
state of Great Britain is and ought
to be totally dissolved;
"That 1t Is ex2edient forthwith to
take the most effectual measures for
forming fore,ga alliances;
"That a pan of confederation be
prepared and transmitted to the res
pective colonies for their considera
ton and appreciation"
Here, in fact, was the Declaration
of Independence in a nutshell. June
g. congress went unto committee OF
whole to consider the resolution. Fol
various reasons the delegates were moi