Robin SmithWhile Independence Day is officially commemorated on the Fourth of July, the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence was held on July 8, 1776, 237 years ago today – the first true celebration of Independence Day.
After the founding document had been unanimously approved and signed at the colonial legislative building, later to be the Pennsylvania State House and ultimately, Independence Hall, it was off to the printer that Thursday afternoon. By Friday morning, copies of the Declaration had begun making their way by horseback carrier “to the several Assemblies, Conventions, and Committees or Councils of Safety, and to the several Commanding officers of the Continental Troops, that it be proclaimed in each of the United States, and at the head of the Army” as ordered by the Second Continental Congress as the closing directive of the manuscript.
On Monday, Independence Hall’s bell tolled loudly to summon colonists to the legislative yard. That bell, inscribed with Leviticus 25:10, reads in part “proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” lived up to its given name, the Liberty Bell.
As the public first heard of the separation from the homeland, the descriptive words painted a picture of a reality they knew and hardships they had endured.
Acknowledging the “self-evident” truths and their inalienable rights as the created of God, the Declaration proclaimed that no government, group or individual could bestow and/or destroy these rights. These liberties transcended the temporary stations and standing granted by the institutions of man. In strong contrast, these inherent rights “endowed by our Creator,” instead, actually produced legitimate government to operate by “the consent of the governed.”