We hold these truths to be self-evident,

" 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 is my favorite sentence in our country's Declaration of Independence.

Our Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. The "Committee of Five", Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston, and Roger Sherman were chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft. John Hancock was the first delegate and the only delegate to sign it on July 4, 1776. It wasn't until August 2, 1776, that the last of the remaining 54 delegates signed it. Benjamin Franklin was the oldest of the delegates to sign the Declaration of Independence.

On July 8, 1776, the Liberty Bell rang out from the tower of Independence Hall to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon. Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th Anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

Let Freedom Ring,

Lorilee