John Adams and Independence

After the members of the Second Continental Congress approved and signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, John Adams wrote about the occasion in a letter to his wife Abigail, "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding Generations as the great anniversary Festival." He suggested that it should, "Be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more." It would be nice if some of our current batch of politicians would read the words of who came before them.