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Every year around this time, I am constantly amazed at how little the people in the United States know about the founding of our country. There are lots and lots of myths and legends that are taken as absolute fact. Here is a list of a few myths about Independence Day that I will attempt to set straight.

The vote for Independence was 13-0

The official vote for Independence was considered unanimous because there were no dissenting votes, but the delegation from New York abstained from the vote because they had no instructions from their colony's assembly on how to vote. They determined that not voting was better than voting wrong. Consequently, the official vote was 12-0 with one abstention. However, a week later, New York gave instructions to join the rest of the colonies, so ultimately, all 13 colonies were united.

Of course, each colony only had one vote, but all of them had multiple delegates to the Second Continental Congress, and not all of the delegates were agreed that Independence was the way to go. Many of the delegates voted against Independence but were outvoted by the rest of their colony's delegates. Also, at the time of the vote, as much as a third of the population of the colonies were against Independence and favored reconciliation with England.

July 4 is Independence Day

Strictly speaking, if we are wanting to celebrate the 13 colonies splitting from Great Britain, then we are doing it on the wrong day. Yes, the Declaration of Independence was passed on July 4, 1776, but it only explained why we separated from Great Britain, it wasn't the vote that actually separated us.

July 2, 1776 was the day that the Second Continental Congress passed, by a vote of 12-0 with one abstention, the Lee Resolution. That resolution stated, “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. “

The wording from the resolution would be incorporated into the Declaration of Independence.

In a letter to his wife Abigail dated July 3, 1776, John Adams would write, “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” With the exception of the date, it sounds like he is describing our current celebrations.

So why come up with a Declaration of Independence at all? As the Declaration itself states, “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.“ This was the first time in the history of the world that a colony (or group of colonies) split from its mother country. An event of that magnitude deserves and demands an explanation. The document also helped in finding foreign allies to aid us in the battle against England, which had been going on for more than a year at that point and would continue for another seven years. The official wording of that document was approved on July 4, 1776, and that was the date placed at the top, but the actual separation from England occurred two days earlier.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not downplaying the importance of the Declaration of Independence. It is one of the three founding documents for the United States. But if you ask me, July 2 should be Independence Day and July 4 should be Declaration of Independence Day.

The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4

We have a wonderfully iconic image of the Declaration of Independence being signed by all of the signatories on July 4, with that signed document currently sitting at the National Archives in Washington D.C. Unfortunately, it didn't happen quite that way.

The wording of the Declaration of Independence was debated and changed right up to the official passing. There is no way the formal parchment currently sitting in the National Archives could have been produced and readied that day. Even if it could have been produced that day, it wasn't a “unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America” as the official document states because New York wasn't yet united with the rest of the states.

There are some accounts of something being signed that day by all of the members of the Second Continental Congress, but if that did happen, whatever was signed has been lost to history. What most likely happened, however, is that, once passed, it was signed by the President of the Congress, John Hancock, and Charles Thomson, the Congressional secretary. This was the common practice for most of what the Second Continental Congress passed. Unfortunately, this copy has also been lost to history, but what does remain are 25 of the approximately 200 copies created by printer John Dunlap that night, which was the first published copies of the Declaration. The only names that appeared on this printed copy were Hancock's and Thomson's.

The document currently on display in the National Archives that most people think of as the true Declaration of Independence was commissioned by the Congress on July 19 (after New York officially joined the rest of the colonies, so it was at that point a declaration of the thirteen united states) and was ready for signing on Aug. 2, which was the formal day the document was signed. However, not everyone was present that day, and some signatures were added later, with at least one signature probably added as late as January 1777. Perhaps ironically, eight people signed the Declaration of Independence who weren't appointed to Congress until after July 4, and eight others didn't sign it either because they left Congress before Aug. 2 or because they disagreed with the document and refused to sign it.

Hopefully, this will give you some more knowledge about the holiday we will be celebrating, and maybe get you interested in the events leading to the formation of our country. After all, there are lots of myths about this era, but as citizens of the United States of America, we owe it to ourselves and our country to learn the truth.

And above all, have a happy and safe Independence Day, whenever you celebrate it.