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Houston Matters

Should We Be Watching Fireworks On July 2 Instead?

Historian Nancy Beck Young shares examples from American history of things we think we know — but maybe don’t have quite right.

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You could argue that we should all be barbecuing and watching fireworks on July 2 every year.

While the original Declaration of Independence is dated July 4, 1776, the legal separation of the original Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain actually took place two days earlier, on July 2, when the Second Continental Congress actually voted to approve a resolution of independence.

Declaration of Independence Painting
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John Trumbull’s painting, Declaration of Independence. The original hangs in the US Capitol rotunda.

That discrepancy is just one of many truths about our history that get fudged a little, misinterpreted — or outright forgotten — over time.

With that in mind, Houston Matters decided to bring in University of Houston historian Nancy Beck Young to share other examples from American history of things we think we know — but maybe don't have quite right.