THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

On 2 July 1776, in the Pennsylvanian State House in Philadelphia, representatives from Britain’s colonies in North America voted, at last, to publicly break their bonds with the mother country and its king, George III.

But 2 July is not the day that Americans celebrate every year. They chose instead 4 July, two days later, when congressmen approved the final version of the Declaration of Independence – a document that would announce their decision to the world.

Drafted mostly by Thomas Jefferson, a prominent lawyer and planter from Virginia (and later the third president of the United States between 1801–09), the Declaration of Independence features