Opinion

Holy cow! History — Happy Fifth of July?’ It almost happened

The signature page of the Olive Branch Petition adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, and signed July 8, 1775.

Public domain image distributed via Wikimedia Commons

OPINION — It was a typically muggy summer in Philadelphia. The oppressive heat and humidity made conditions miserable inside the Pennsylvania State House’s Assembly Room.

That aggravated conditions for the four dozen or so men gathered in that sweatbox. Since most of them were lawyers, they were prone to arguing; the oven-like heat in the meeting room as June gave way to July made it miserable.

There was plenty to argue about, too, because the fate of their homeland was hanging in the balance.

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