[tomder55]

Please don't call the holiday 'The 4th of July ' . No other holiday is identified by the date of the celebration . The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 2,1776.The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration on July 4. The holiday is Independence Day . ok rant over



Painting by John Turnbull withJohn Adams, Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman, Thomas Jefferson , and Benjamin Franklin . If you have a $2 bill hanging around this painting is on the back . It hangs in the Rotunda of the Capitol .It is one of four of his paintings in the Rotunda.

Turnbull was a veteran of the Revolution . He was first used to sketch Brit positions in Boston. He witnessed the Battle of Bunker Hill. He became an aide to Gen George Washington until he resigned in 1777 .

He became a professional artist and moved to London . He was imprisoned there in retaliation for the hanging of Major John Andre (who was the Brit spy Benedict Arnold tried to surrender West Point to ) . He was in prison for 7 months .He returned to US
After the war he went back to London to study art . He made the Declaration of Independence in Paris in 1786 .He made many paintings of the Revolution's events and people of the Revolution but Congress only authorized the purchase of the 4 at the Capitol .Although many of his paintings and portraits are recognizable today ,he never really was able to make a living selling his works.

John Trumbull famous paintings - Google Search

[tomder55]

General George Washington was in New York, preparing its defense, when on July 6, 1776 a courier from Philadelphia arrived to deliver a copy of the Declaration of Independence There were just two signatures : John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, and Secretary Charles Thomson. The odds of prevailing against British were low and the penalty for treason was death.So the Continental Congress decided to not to reveal the identities of the other 54 signatories.
After Washington defeated the Brits in Trenton, and Princeton ,the Continental Congress decided it was safe to release the 56 signature version of the Declaration .

[jlisenbe]

The courage of those 56 men was significant, and especially so for Hancock and Thomson. Contrast that with our current group of "leaders".

[tomder55]

Truth be told if it was for personal gain they would've been better off staying Brit.
The last line of the Declaration says it all ...with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

[jlisenbe]

Not too bad for a bunch of cis male, misogynistic white supremacists. [SARC]

[tomder55]

'sacred honor' a concept lost on today's "leaders "

“A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy.” Samual Adams

[tomder55]

Mother Jones wants to celebrate the day by honoring the deep state bureaucrats . (no this is not the Bee )

For July 4th, Let’s Celebrate Great American Patriots: Government Bureaucrats – Mother Jones

[jlisenbe]

One happy result of independence is the right to keep and bear arms. An armed civilian saved the day in Israel.

Officials identified the assailant as Abed Khalila, reportedly from the Palestinian village of As-Samu, near Hebron, according to Israel's Shin Bet security services. He was reportedly shot and killed by a civilian bystander at the scene of the attack.
Officials report that eight individuals suffered injuries, including one 46-year-old woman who was evacuated to a nearby hospital with severe stab wounds.

[Wondergirl]

First thing I'll do when I get to heaven will be to fuse shut all gun barrels and melt all ammunition.

[tomder55]

and beat the swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks and we will study war no more . You don't speak of heaven You speak of utopia if you think humans are capable of doing what is prophesized the messiah will do. .