Red, White and Blue: Interesting Facts about US Independence Day


We’re about to celebrate America’s 241st Independence Day celebration.  To get into the festive spirit, I’ve gathered a few fun facts you might not know about Independence day and our founding fathers.

July 2nd really should be our Independence day

Congress actually voted in favor of independence on July 2nd, however it was July 4th that they accepted the official Declaration of Independence and it was signed by all 56 delegates.

From Property to Happiness

The original sentence from the Declaration of Independence was “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 Property. ”  Jefferson changed it to the “…pursuit of Happiness” with the five men committee that were tasked with writing the document.

Coincidences in History

In what is probably one of the great coincidences in history, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson passed away after long lives on the exact same day –  on the 50th anniversary of the signing of Declaration of Independence.  The two men having once been fellow patriots had turned into bitter rivals politically but 12 years before they died, they reconciled.

Keeping things Secret

Our founding fathers were code and cypher enthusiasts.  Just like we are concerned with hacking and our personal info getting into the wrong hands, they were concerned about letters being leaked or intercepted by the enemy.  Thomas Jefferson could be considered “the Father of American Cryptography” and  George Washington liked using invisible ink to communicate with his spy cell.  One of the popular code systems was a book codes where two patriots could agree upon a certain book, like the dictionary, and then reference page numbers and rows and words to communicate messages.

Happy Independence Day!  And if you haven’t yet, be sure to check out our 4th of July Sale going on now! Various Tobacco and Dark Coffee items are 20-40% off.