John Adams predicted that July 2 would become America’s “great anniversary” because Congress approved the resolution for independence on July 2, 1776.
Writing to Abigail Adams on July 3, Adams called the date the most memorable epoch in American history. He imagined future celebrations filled with parades, games, bells, bonfires, and illuminations. Adams was describing the political decision to separate from Britain, not the later approval of the Declaration’s wording.
The prediction was only partly fulfilled. Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, and that date eventually became the national holiday. The Declaration was then engrossed and signed primarily on August 2, 1776, another detail often blurred in popular retellings.
Adams later became the second U.S. president, serving from 1797 to 1801. A memorable coincidence is that Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration’s adoption.