why are the years 1776 and 1787 significant?
345036
Declaration of Independence and The US Constitution, respectively.
119705
By the middle of the 1700s, the 13 colonies that made up part of England's empire in the New World were finding it difficult to be ruled by a king 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. They were tired of the taxes imposed upon them. But independence was a gradual and painful process. The colonists could not forget that they were British citizens and that they owed allegiance to King George III. \n\nVirginia took the first step toward independence by voting to set up a committee to represent the colonies. The First Continental Congress met in September of 1774. They drew up a list of grievances against the crown which became the first draft of a document that would formally separate the colonies from England.\n\nThe unanimous Declaration of the thirteen (original) United States of America was drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776.\n\nIn Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress presented & debated a second draft of the document. Independence Day is celebrated on July 4 because that is the day when the Continental Congress ADOPTED the FINAL draft. \n\nThe 'Declaration of Independence' served to "...publish and declare that [the United States] are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; and that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown."\n\nFrom July 8, 1776, until the next month, the document was read publicly and people celebrated whenever they heard it. The next year, in Philadelphia, bells rang and ships fired guns, candles and firecrackers were lighted.\n\nJohn Adams, a lawyer, the first Vice President and the Second President of the United States, was one of the members of the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence. He wrote to his wife, "I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival... it ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other..." \n\nThe new nation was officially recognized following the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and in that year, Independence Day was made an official holiday. In 1941, the U.S. Congress declared the 4th of July a federal holiday.
80534
There were issues regarding the Brittish Crown's decision to have the Colonies of America pay for the French & Indian War.  This led to an outcry of "Taxation without Representation," the notion that Americans were being taxed by the Brittish Parlaiment without the American's voices being officially heard during the consideration.  \nAs a result, many started toying with the idea of independent rule.  This led to many other events and eventually the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.  David McCullough's 1776 is a great book to use as a guide.
996892
It should be the most important days like when a new government/rebels/liberation force got power, or when country gained independence.\n\nNormally it's chosen by new national assembly (after surveying public), then after that 10 years, 20 years, etc if there's no more-important-event, no one bother changing it (people used to their vacation).
76942
There are even today many different ways of figuring out time. For example this weekend, on 29th Jan the chinese new year starts. It is Year 4703 by the Chinese calendar. And it is the jewish year 5677.\nAnd even the christian calendar has been modified a couple of times. The gregorian calendar reform was adopted in 1582 but not in England and so also not in the US, they only changed in 1752 (so they lost 11 days).\nWhich year we are in is only relative to what you want to measure. If you want to be more explicit you don't just say B.C. (Before christ) but B.C.E (before the christian era). As long as you can figure out how far apart they are you can easily convert one into the other and allow for changes. \nFor time of the year (month/day) it is probably best to go by a system like now, which is constant with and corresponds to the seasons of the year. So while George Washington was born on the 22nd feb 1732, his parents must have thought it was the 11th when he was born. \nI don't know how far historic dates get modernized to reflect calendar changes.
1097236
Delaware is known for being the 1st state. that's pretty significant I think. :)
491154
A written constitution is not as open to imterpretation by time and circumstance as an unwritten one. A favorite argument from the UK is that the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. is a relic of a time gone by, when in reality it remains the will of the majority of the American people today. When we want a change, we affect that change, like the 13th and 19th Amendments.
48893
August 2, 1776 (not July 4).
87755
The U.S.A. has  been a country for 229 years. Declared independence in 1776
150945
1792, 1804, 1832, 1860, 1888, 1928, 1956, 1984, 2012, 1781, 1787,1798, 1810, 1821, 1827, 1838, 1849, 1855, 1866, 1877, 1894, 1900,1906, 1917, 1923, 1934, 1945, 1951, 1962, 1973, 1979, 1990,2001, 2007....\nhope it can help a lot!!!....
749948
Just in the USA? Well then certain topics around these dates come to mind: 1992-2000, 1972-74, 1965-1975, 1960, 1944. Apart from the Nixon dates, that's all democrat work. I'm not American, btw.
367967
First of all Americans are Brits, but are in different countries, and civil war occours in the SAME country, but I think I know what you are refering to.\n\nThe American Revolution was a revolution that ended two centuries of rule of the Thirteen Colonies by the British Empire and created the modern United States of America. The Revolutionary era was both exhilarating and disturbing–a time of progress for some, dislocation for others. The American Revolution is the series of ideas, and changes that resulted in the revolution and ensuing political separation of thirteen colonies in North America from the British Empire and the creation of the United States of America with a new political system. The American War of Independence which lasted from 1775 to 1783, was one part of the revolution, but the revolution by the Americans began before the first shot was fired at Lexington and Concord and continued after the British surrender at Yorktown. Years later, in 1818, John Adams wrote: "The Revolution was effected before the War commenced," and "The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people."\n\nHistorians usually agree that the revolutionary era began in 1763 as Britain defeated France in the French and Indian War, and the military threat to the colonies from France ended. The end of the period is usually marked by as Treaty of Paris in 1783. However, references to the "revolutionary era" sometimes stretched to 1789, when a new government under George Washington began operating.\n\nInterpretations about the effect of the revolution vary. At one end of the spectrum is the older view that the American Revolution was not "revolutionary" at all, that it did not radically transform colonial society, but simply replaced a distant government with a local one. The more recent view pioneered by historians such as Bernard Bailyn, Gordon Wood and Edmund Morgan is that the American Revolution was a unique and radical event, based on a new ideology of "republicanism" which produced deep changes that had a profound impact on world history.
258674
July 4, 1776 . . . it will be 230 years this July.
935596
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 1776!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
186651
PLEASE RESOLVE, NOT REMOVE...\n\nThe Declaration of Independence was "signed" by many of America's "founding fathers" starting on July 4, 1776.  \n\nAt the time, the US was not a country yet - this document demanded and declared its independence from England.  I don't think it was 'formally' adopted by the country but it set the US on the road to BEING a country and the beginning of the Revolutionary War.\n\nHere's a timeline:\nJune 7 Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, receives Richard Henry Lee's resolution urging Congress to declare independence. \nJune 11 Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston appointed to a committee to draft a declaration of independence. American army retreats to Lake Champlain from Canada. \nJune 12-27 Jefferson, at the request of the committee, drafts a declaration, of which only a fragment exists. Jefferson's clean, or "fair" copy, the "original Rough draught," is reviewed by the committee. Both documents are in the manuscript collections of the Library of Congress. \nJune 28 A fair copy of the committee draft of the Declaration of Independence is read in Congress. \nJuly 1-4 Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence. \nJuly 2 Congress declares independence as the British fleet and army arrive at New York. \nJuly 4 Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in the morning of a bright, sunny, but cool Philadelphia day. John Dunlap prints the Declaration of Independence. These prints are now called "Dunlap Broadsides." Twenty-four copies are known to exist, two of which are in the Library of Congress. One of these was Washington's personal copy. \nJuly 5 John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, dispatches the first of Dunlap's broadsides of the Declaration of Independence to the legislatures of New Jersey and Delaware. \nJuly 6 Pennsylvania Evening Post of July 6 prints the first newspaper rendition of the Declaration of Independence. \nJuly 8 The first public reading of the Declaration is in Philadelphia. \nJuly 9 Washington orders that the Declaration of Independence be read before the American army in New York \nJuly 19 Congress orders the Declaration of Independence engrossed (officially inscribed) and signed by members. \nAugust 2 Delegates begin to sign engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence. A large British reinforcement arrives at New York after being repelled at Charleston, S.C. \n1777 \nJanuary 18 Congress, now sitting in Baltimore, Maryland, orders that signed copies of the Declaration of Independence printed by Mary Katherine Goddard of Baltimore be sent to the states.
377853
yes, July 4, 1776 making it 229 years, 9 months, 2 weeks, 2 days old.
792943
In June of 1776, a committee of the Continental Congress consisting of John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut (the "Committee of Five"), was formed to draft a suitable declaration to frame this resolution. The committee decided that Jefferson would write the draft, which he showed to Franklin and Adams. Franklin himself made at least 48 corrections. Jefferson then produced another copy incorporating these changes, and the committee presented this copy to the Continental Congress on June 28, 1776.\n\nclick here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence