2/4 July 1776

People around these parts were a bit annoyed that the Stadium of Fire (at BYU) and the Freedom Blast (at UofU) celebrations were held on Saturday, the 2nd of July, and not Monday, the 4th of July. Hat tip to Major K for this interesting historical note:

July 2, 1776 is the day Congress resolved to separate from Great Britain. John Adams thought that this was the day that Americans would celebrate. As he wrote in a letter to his wife Abigail Adams on July 3, 1776:

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, forevermore.

Instead we celebrate July 4, the day the final version of the Declaration of Independence was formally adopted.