In celebration of the coming day, here again are some mostly true Irish facts for the 4th of July:
Mostly True 4th Of July History
•The Declaration of Independence was
written, from Thomas Jefferson's draft, by an Irishman. Charles
Thompson, born in Maghera, Co Derry was secretary to the first Congress.
His additional line, referring to King George as a "feckin' eejit" and
"a cute British hoor" was ultimately removed from the final version of
the Declaration.
•John Dunlap, a native of Strabane,
first printed the Declaration of Independence, which was first read to
the people from the window of the hall in which Congress met, by Colonel
John Nixon, another Irishman. In 1815, John Binns, of Philadelphia,
another Irishman, published the document for the first time, with
reproductions of the signers' signatures. Those reproductions were also
rumored to have been used by Binns to sign for bar tabs across the
colonies in ensuing years.
•The Declaration of Independence was
signed by fifty-six men, of whom nine (including Secretary Thompson)
were of Irish origin or descent. Mathew Thornton, born in Ireland in
1714, signed for New Hampshire. James Smith, who signed for
Pennsylvania, was born in Ireland in 1713. George Taylor, a signer also
for Pennsylvania, was also born in Ireland. George Read, of Delaware,
was the son of Irish parents and would later help author the US
Constitution. Signer Charles Carroll was of Irish descent. Other
Irish-American signers include Thomas Lynch, Jr., Thomas McKean and
Edward Rutledge. And Irishman Colm O'Sullivan was twice sent out for
sandwiches and beer during the first meeting of the Continental
Congress.
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