from us.gov: Today in History: Happy Fourth!
July 4th fireworks, Washington, D.C. Prints and Photographs Division
The Library is home to the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. A couple of years ago, thanks to the work of the Library of Congress’ Preservation Research and Testing Division, it was discovered that declaration author Thomas Jefferson had originally written the phrase “our fellow-subjects” in the portion of the document that deals with grievances against King George III, He apparently changed his mind, and over the word “subjects” he inked an alternative, the word “citizens.”
Jefferson, whose papers also reside here at the Library, marked his last Independence Day when he died on July 4, 1826 [as did his deep frenemy John Adams, with whom he had battled politically and then restored to his bosom through renewed correspondence - you can read their letters ...Tj].
You can also read more about the Declaration and other related material here.
Americans all over our nation celebrate with backyard barbecues, parades, fireworks, flag displays and more. I’ll actually be skating in the national Independence Day Parade here in D.C. and hopefully enjoying some fireworks later, although my days of Roman candle wars have come and gone. How will you celebrate?
I also thought it would be fun to give you a few facts and figures courtesy of the United States Census Bureau.
This Independence Day, the nation’s estimated population is more than 313 million, as compared with 2.5 million in 1776.
