The Declaration of Independence was
received with every demonstration of
public rejoicing. We are told that it
was read in public from the platform
of an observatory in the rear of the
statehouse. On the same day a bril
liant fete was given in honor of the
nation's birth on board the frigate
Washington in the Delaware, the fes
tivities terminating with a ball in the
evening. The declaration was read at
the head of each brigade of the Conti
nental army stationed at New York,
and received with joyful huzzas. Again
on the tenth day of July, the declara
tion was read in the courthouse at
White Plains by order of the conven
tion then in session. The king's coat
of arms was brought from the hall
where his courts were held and burned
amid the acclamations of the multi
tude.
Thus we find that whatever form
these public demonstrations of rejoic
ing over the natfon's birth might take,
they were always preceded by a care
ful exposition of the cause for that re
joicing. The celebration of Independ
tence day, in those early times, was the
vfcSUlt&ht overflow of emotion due to
the Intelligence, clearly and pointedly
conveyed to the popular mind, of the
resolute resistance of the country's
leaders to tyranny that should make
America free.
