Independence Day in America
Our offices in the US will be closed on Monday and Tuesday of
this week in celebration of Independence Day. As not all of our offices are in
the US, we thought we would highlight the nature of the holiday, and assure
everyone in our home office in the UK that we are still on On the Bus!
With the help of Military.com: On July 4, 1776, the thirteen colonies claimed their independence
from England, an event which eventually led to the formation of the United
States. Each year on July 4th, also known as Independence Day, Americans
celebrate this historic event.
Conflict between the colonies and England was
already a year old when the colonies convened a Continental Congress in
Philadelphia in the summer of 1776. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented a
resolution with the famous words: "Resolved: That these United Colonies
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are
absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be,
totally dissolved."
Lee's words were the impetus for the drafting of a formal
Declaration of Independence. On July 1,
1776, the Continental Congress reconvened, and on the following day, the Lee
Resolution for independence was adopted. On July 4th, the
Declaration was officially adopted. John Hancock, President of the Continental
Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence. It is said that John Hancock
signed his name "with a great flourish" so England's "King
George can read that without spectacles!"
Back to our blog