alt.education

Peter Franks wrote:
>> False and you can say it is till the cows come home. Doing so will not make
>> it so.
>
>What day is considered the nations birthday?

"considered" = cultural choice
Not necessarily legal reality.

>What is the significant document that established that day?

The resolution for independence, approved on 2 Jul 1776, which was
announced to the public on that day. At the time, John Adams wrote
that the 2nd was the day to be celebrated, but people chose to
celebrate the 4th.

Of course the reality is that we became a sovereign nation only when
the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783.

>Not good enough for you.
>
>How about Lincoln:

Not relevant. It's a famous speech, but it is still only an opinion.

>The Declaration of Independence IS the founding document for this country.

A "country" is nothing but a legal organization of territory under a
system of laws, which is recognized as sovereign by other nations.
The legal organization was the constitution, and before that the
Articles of Confederation. Whether the Articles and the Constitution
pertain to the same "country" is a semantics argument which cannot be
settled. One was a legal successor to the other. The most important
sovereign recognition was conveyed by the Treaty of Paris, though one
can argue for the first sovereign recognitions by France and
Netherlands.

Part of the nation thought of itself as a mere confederation of states
who were the real sovereign entities, until the end of the civil war.
Citizenship was determined in the state by state laws, not in the
nation (until the 14th amendment). So arguably we weren't a nation
until the 14th amendment was passed.

lojbab