THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

5 THINGS YOU(PROBABLY) DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT... | In 1776, as the conflict heated up, Britain's North American colonies announced their independence with a groundbreaking document. Dr Tom Cutterham explores the Declaration's lasting impact

- Dr Tom Cutterham

On 2 July 1776, in the Pennsylvanian State House in Philadelphia, representatives from Britain's colonies in North America voted, at last, to publicly break their bonds with the mother country and its king, George III.

But 2 July is not the day that Americans celebrate every year. They chose instead 4 July, two days later, when congressmen approved the final version of the Declaration of Independence - a document that would announce their decision to the world.

Drafted mostly by Thomas Jefferson, a prominent lawyer and planter from Virginia (and later the third president of the United States between 1801-09), the Declaration of Independence features the famous lines: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" and have "certain unalienable rights" - among them “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. The Declaration also describes Native Americans as “merciless Indian savages" and blames King George for inciting American slaves to insurrection.

Nearly 250 years later, Americans still celebrate the day their rebel leaders changed the course of history...

1 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IS A SACRED DOCUMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

Not for nothing did the late historian Pauline Maier call her 1997 book about the Declaration American Scripture. Yet the document itself wasn't always treated well; it barely survived the British burning of Washington DC in 1814. But during World War II, the Declaration of Independence was delivered to Fort Knox, Kentucky, under Secret Service protection. In 1952, the Declaration was placed inside a bullet-proof case in a shrine' under the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington DC. At night, it is lowered into a reinforced bunker. And every day, Americans file past and stare at it in reverence.