Independence Day

Sources

• National Archives, The Declaration of Independence: A History — https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-history → Richard Henry Lee's resolution of June 7, 1776 and its "free and independent States" wording; the June 11 postponement seven colonies to five with New York abstaining, the three-week recess, and the appointment of the Committee of Five (Adams, Sherman, Franklin, Livingston, Jefferson) with Jefferson writing the initial draft; the July 2, 1776 adoption of the Lee Resolution with twelve colonies in favor and New York not voting; the July 4 adoption of the Declaration after revisions finished late that morning; the Dunlap broadside printed the night of July 4 and the twenty-six known surviving copies; the July 19 order to engross on parchment and have every member sign; the August 2, 1776 signing at the table with Hancock first, 56 eventual signers not all present that day, and the July 4 signing described as a common misconception.
• Massachusetts Historical Society, Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive — John Adams to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776 — https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17760703jasecond → the letter's date; the Second Day of July "will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival"; "ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations"; "from one End of this Continent to the other" and "forever more"; the day as a "Day of Deliverance" to be marked with "solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty."
• Library of Congress, Today in History — July 4 — https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/july-04/ → the July 4, 1776 adoption of the Declaration by the Second Continental Congress; Philadelphians marking the first anniversary with a spontaneous celebration; observance becoming commonplace only after the War of 1812; Erie Canal and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad groundbreakings timed to July 4 festivities; Congress making Independence Day a federal holiday on June 28, 1870; the Fourth as the most important secular holiday by the 1870s; the Banneker Institute of Philadelphia's 1859 address and chairman Jacob C. White Jr.'s quoted hope to "hail with them the approach of the glorious natal day of the Great Republic."
• Library of Congress, A Cause for Celebration: Federal Holidays and Observances, Part 1 (In Custodia Legis) — https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2024/03/a-cause-for-celebration-federal-holidays-and-observances-part-1/ → Congress first establishing public holidays in 1870 — New Year's Day, Independence Day, Christmas and Thanksgiving — in the District of Columbia, and the eleven legal public holidays now documented in 5 U.S.C. 6103.
• Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, A Nation's Story: "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" — https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/nations-story-what-slave-fourth-july → the July 5, 1852 date; Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York; Douglass delivering the keynote at an Independence Day celebration commemorating the Declaration; and the quoted lines "This Fourth of July is yours, not mine, You may rejoice, I must mourn."
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Federal Holidays — https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/ → Independence Day as a legal public holiday under 5 U.S.C. 6103; the Saturday-to-preceding-Friday rule under 5 U.S.C. 6103(b) and the Sunday-to-following-Monday rule under Executive Order 11582.

Note on a source conflict: the Library of Congress describes the Declaration as "unanimously adopted" on July 4, 1776, while the National Archives records that New York abstained on June 11 and did not vote on July 2. This page follows the National Archives, as the more primary source and the custodian of the document, and gives the vote counts rather than calling July 4 unanimous.

Rejected as sources: nationaltoday, nationaldaycalendar, checkiday, timeanddate, and content-farm or AI-generated listicles.