John Adams predicted that July 2, 1776, would become America’s great annual independence holiday.
Adams made the prediction because Congress approved the Lee Resolution on July 2, declaring the Thirteen Colonies independent. He believed that vote, rather than the later approval of the Declaration’s wording, would be remembered as the decisive independence event.
History took a different path. Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, and that date appeared on the document and became the national holiday. The public association between independence and July 4 grew through readings, celebrations, fireworks, and later national traditions.
The distinction explains one of the most enduring date mix-ups in American history. July 2 was the independence vote, July 4 was the Declaration’s adoption, and August 2 was the date on which most delegates are generally believed to have signed the engrossed parchment copy.