HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-06-20 Liberty or Independence DayWHEREAS, in the early 1 770s, more and more co lonists became convinced that the
Parliament of Great Brita in intended to take away their fr eedom and saw a pattern of increased
oppressio n a nd cor ruption aro und the wo rld ; and
WHEREAS, Great Britain began to prepare for war in early 1775 w ith the first fighting
in Apri l, 1775 in Massac hu setts. In Augu st , 1775 , the K in g declared th e co lonists in "a state of
o pe n and avowed re bellion ,'· and co lonists be ga n to se riou s ly cons id er ind epe nd e nce; and
WHEREAS, co lonists e lected delegates to anend a Co ntinental Con gress , w hich adopted
s trict rules of secrecy to protect the cause of A m e rican liberty and their own lives; a nd
WHEREAS, on June 7 , 1776, Ric hard Henry Lee introduced a resolution "that the se
united colonies are an d of right ought to be free and independe nt stat es," and appointed a
Co mmi ttee of Five to wr it e an a nnouncement exp laining t he reasons for independence; and
WHEREAS, Thomas Jefferson began writing the Declaration of Independ e nc e,
borrowi n g from existin g documents such as the Vi rginia Dec laration of Rights . He h o p ed that
his ,vords served as an "expression of the American mind "; and
WHEREAS, less than three weeks after Thomas Jefferson began writing , he presented
his draft to the Continental Congress . on Jul y 2 , 1776, the Conti nental Congress voted in favor
of declaring independence; and
WHEREAS, two days later , on Ju ly 4 111, 1776 , the Contin e n tal Congress voted to ratify
the text of the Dec laration and John Dunlap , official printe r to the Contin e ntal Co n gress, worked
thro u g h o ut the night to set the Declarati on in type an d p rin ted approx imate ly two hundred
copies; and
WHEREAS, Jul y 4 th h as been recogni ze d as Ind e pendence Day , a federa l holiday, s ince
1941 and Am ericans often ce lebrate t heir independ enc e a nd freedoms o n this d ay thro u g h
fest iv iti es including fi reworks, parad es, concerts , a nd fa mil y gatherin gs .
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED THAT, I Othoni e l S ierra, Mayor of the
City of E n g lewoo d , Co lorado ("th e C it y") and the City Co un ci l, hereby proclaim:
July 4 1\ 2023 as Liberty Day/ Independence Day a nd e n courage all citizen s of E n glewood to
celebrate the ind epe nd e n ce of o ur n ation and th e freedom of indi vi duals.
GIVEN under my ha nd this 2.0 day of June, 2023
Othoni e l S ierra, Mayo r