July 4, 1776While the birth of our nation followed several years later with the signing of the Articles of Confederation (1781), and still later the Constitution of the United States (September 17, 1787), the fourth of July is our country's most coveted day - Independence Day. The day we recognize as the signing date of the Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. With the stroke of the quill, and in John Hancock's case, a flourish, thirteen small colonies declared their separation from the most powerful nation on earth, their former sovereign.Interestingly, though, it was in fact July 2nd when the Second Continental Congress legally separated from the crown when it approved a resolution of independence. That resolution was brought forth by Richard Henry Lee...