Happy birthday to the United States of America <3

Sadly, I don't have any new artwork to share today, but I'm still chipping away at the big one. In the meantime, here's a little historical rambling from me:

Technically, the USA was realized on July 2nd, 1776, when the Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution which declared the independence of the colonies as sovereign states. July 4th is considered the honorific anniversary since that is the day that the Declaration of Independence was adopted, signed, and published by the Continental Congress. John Adams believed that July 2nd should have been the day marked for celebration, but the founding fathers proclaimed July 4th to be such because most of them had surprisingly forgotten the anniversary until July 3rd of the next year.

Adams’ Federalists and Jefferson’s Anti-Federalists would continue to fight over how the country’s anniversary should be celebrated, and both men would pass away on July 4th in the same year of 1826. Jefferson wrote a letter just two days before reminiscing on the importance of the day, how it should stand to refresh our memories of the sacrifices made by our forebears to earn the rights we protect now. In reflecting this, we may better understand what it takes to do the same for ourselves and for our future generations.