Everybody knows that the Fourth of July celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the historic document by means of which the 13 American colonies severed their political connections with Great Britain and declared themselves to be the United States of America

It was published in British newspapers beginning in mid-August 1776 By signing the document, theed high treason against the King of England In essence, they signed their death warrants because that was the penalty However, death was not simple or quick

On the Fourth of July, they approved the final edited version of the Declaration of Independence There would be no turning back now This is because the final version is approved This means there will be no turning back because once it is approved and finalized, you CAN NOT change anything

Future presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were among the signatories Edward Rutledge (age 26) was the youngest signer and Benjamin Franklin (age 70) the oldest

Drawing on documents, such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights, state and local calls for independence, and his own draft of a Virginia constitution, Jefferson wrote a stunning statement of the colonists’ right to rebel against the British government and establish their own based on the premise that all men are

Although there was no legal reason to sign the Declaration, Jefferson and the other Founders signed it because they wanted to “mutually pledge” to each other that they were bound to support it with “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” Their signatures were courageous because the signers realized they were

Of those presidents who were slaveholders, Thomas Jefferson owned the most, with 600+ slaves, followed closely by George Washington

From the age of ten, they were assigned to tasks—in the fields, in the Nailery and Textile Workshop, or in the house In 1796, for instance, eight of the fourteen nailmakers were aged ten to twelve

On a typical plantation, slaves worked ten or more hours a day, “from day clean to first dark,” six days a week, with only the Sabbath off At planting or harvesting time, planters required slaves to stay in the fields 15 or 16 hours a day

During their limited leisure hours, particularly on Sundays and holidays, slaves engaged in singing and dancing Though slaves used a variety of musical instruments, they also engaged in the practice of “patting juba” or the clapping of hands in a highly complex and rhythmic fashion

Slaves on small farms often slept in the kitchen or an outbuilding, and sometimes in small cabins near the farmer’s house On larger plantations where there were many slaves, they usually lived in small cabins in a slave quarter, far from the master’s house but under the watchful eye of an overseer

They found ways to defy their bondage through harvesting personal gardens, creating culturally diverse foods, practicing religion, expressing themselves through music, creating strong family bonds and even through their ideas of freedom