Did You Know: John Adams Expected the Nation to Celebrate July 2

According to the National Archives, John Adams expected the national to celebrate its independence on July 2, not July 4th.

According to blog.archives.gov: 

The day after the Congress approved the resolution declaring independence on July 2,  Adams penned one of the many letters he wrote home to his wife, Abigail. He wrote, in part:

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

Adams got his pomp and parade and his bells and bonfires—and from one end of the continent to the other—but he was off by two days.

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