> It's also pretty well established that the document was complete by July 2nd (so the mention about Jefferson going shopping on the 4th is sort of weird) and m

> It's also pretty well established that the document was complete by July 2nd (so the mention about Jefferson going shopping on the 4th is sort of weird) and most of the Congress had signed it then, but not all...so it went into effect July 4th. The story I recall hearing from the park ranger in Philly is 1) it was sent to the printers on the 2nd, to be available on the 4th, and 2) it gave certain signers two days head start out of town on a fast horse. They were meeting in a room across the hall from the British court where they would have been tried for treason. It was sobering to me to think that ten steps away from their writing desks where they signed their names to a treasonous document, was the court that could convict them and sentence them to death. Likely by being drawn and quartered. There is a reason our constitution has a prohibition against "cruel and unusual" punishment. There are times when creativity is not to be celebrated.