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July 2022 Postage Price Changes.
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The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness ....
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The Declaration of Independence Was Not Officially Signed on July 4
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On July 4, 1976, Independence Day of the American Bicentennial year, the United States Postal Service issued a 24-cent se-tenant, Declaration of Independence stamp, printed in a continuous horizontal design across four stamps (Scott 1691-1694). Designed by Vincent E. Hoffman, the scene depicts the first painting that John Trumbull completed for the Capitol Rotunda, Washington, District of Columbia.
U S A – 1869, 24c Declaration of Independence stamp – worth US.
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On April 19, 1775, during the Battles of Lexington and Concord (Mass.), the first shots were fired between colonists and British troops (who fired the first shot??), starting the American Revolution. After these first military conflicts, tension between Britain and her American colonists continued to mount. Finally, on July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted for independence from Britain. |
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Two days later, on July 4, the Congress approved the final draft of the Declaration of Independence, which had been written by Thomas Jefferson and edited by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.
On July 8, the first public reading of the Declaration took place at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Later that same day, other readings occurred in Trenton, New Jersey, and Easton, Pennsylvania. Printer John Dunlap made about 200 copies of the Declaration, with the date of July 4. Known as the “Dunlap Broadsides,” these were distributed throughout the 13 colonies.
However, it wasn’t until August 2, 1776, that the Declaration was officially signed. John Hancock, president of the Congress, was the first of 56 delegates who signed this enlarged version, writing in big, bold letters.
