245 Years!

On July 4, 1776, a group of Americans approved a document declaring the United States of America free from English rule. This document was the Declaration of Independence, and today we celebrate the 245th birthday of this courageous action!

Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, outlined its purpose:

When forced, therefore, to resort to arms for redress, an appeal to the tribunal of the world was deemed proper for our justification. This was the object of the Declaration of Independence....Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind.

John Adams informed his wife of the events preceding the passage of the Declaration and stated:

I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these states. Yet through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory--I can see that the end is more than worth all the means and that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction.

Check out our quizzes and test your knowledge about the Declaration of Independence! Enjoy this video by David Barton as he outlines some of the sacrifices of the signers of the Declaration and the importance of July 4th in American history!

"[O]n this special day, the birthday of our nation, in the midst of
all the joyous celebrations let us take a moment to remember
the debt of thanks we owe to those who came before us, to the same
God who guides us all, and to the spirit of faith and patriotism which
still makes America 'the land of the free and the home of the brave'."
Ronald Reagan