With two days until Independence Day it's time for a rough draft rewrite. A Declaration Remix, if you will.
The final days leading up to the approval of the Declaration of Independence are near and dear to my heart. Why? Well, first let's have a quick refresher on American History 101.
While we celebrate our independence on July 4th, the Continental Congress voted to cut ties with the OG GB on July 2, 1776. Meaning, we had officially ditched the monarchy and were dropping our own beats on July 2nd, 1776 (Fun Fact: In 1776, the 2nd was also on a Tuesday), but as you know that's not the day we celebrate.
No, there were still two solid days of searching for a better word, debating comma placement, and some serious patriarchal pontificating (colonial-era mansplaining). It sounds like an absolute dream wrapped in a nightmare (no a/c and women are property...no thank you).
Two days after the day we actually liberated ourselves, when the writers and editors were finished and the Declaration of Independence was approved, July 4th became the day that we celebrate as our nation's birthday. You might say the writers had the last word...and that's amazing.
I realize rewrites and editing are not everyone's cup of tea, but I think we can all respect the power of the editor's pen in this situation. They literally rewrote history, they made their work the key tipping point in our nation's path to independence. If that's not power, I don't know what is.
It's a nice reminder of the power and importance of words, a well placed comma, and a possessive apostrophe. The Declaration of Independence is by no means perfect. Our Founding Fathers forgot most of the population...but I'll save that conversation for the Fourth. Until then, happy rough draft rewrite/remix day!
This one's for you, because crazy, holiday work weeks need a soundtrack...
...just for fun:
This one's for you too...
