1776 Live
@250YearsAgoLive
Live-posting as a reporter embedded in history. Curated by @MannyMarotta. Companion to @25YearsAgoLive, @50YearsAgoLive, and @100YearsAgoLive. DM for business.
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Continental Congress HAS SIGNED A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE!
The UNITED STATES are OFFICIALLY INDEPENDENT from BRITAIN.
LIBERTY BELLS ring out throughout Philadelphia; the streets ERUPT IN ECSTASY.
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After South Carolina reverses its position, Continental Congress votes to declare INDEPENDENCE from Britain, adopting a legal separation from the Crown.
Charles Thomson, Secretary for Continental Congress, uses hash marks to note how many colonies voted for the severance from the Crown.
John Adams writes in a letter to his wife, Abigail, that “the second day of July, 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in American history.”
But although newspapers report the independence, no mass celebrations break out.
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Delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania John Morton agrees to break a voting deadlock and side with Benjamin Franklin in favor of independence.
[Fourth-Wall Break]
Overnight, this account tripled in size. Two out of three of you reading this are new here. Welcome!
If you’re not familiar with this model, I post in the present tense, pretending that I’m live in 1776 posting as events are happening.
The principal thing that I want to say to you all is that this account does not exist simply for July 4, 1776. This is an account that covers all events from 250 years ago worldwide, live, in perpetuity. That means that this will continue as long as I do. So don’t click away on the Fourth of July!
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Thomas Paine publishes an open letter in the Pennsylvania Evening Post, under the name “Republicus,” which advocates for the name “United States of America” for the new nation now emerging.
This is the first time such a term has been used.
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Thomas Jefferson submits the final draft of his Declaration of Independence to Continental Congress.
The Maryland Congress in Annapolis sends delegates to Philadelphia with instructions to declare independence from Great Britain.
