Independence Day, JULY 2 (yes, the second!), 1776

Tin Briwn writes. "The date of formal Declaration of Independence, not of any prior decision. On my office wall in Fort de France, Martinique, French West Indies hung a copy of an order issued to William Bingham, after whom Binghampton, NY is named. In it Bingham was made the official representative of the rebelling colonies in Martinique and instructed to receive from French authorities there and send on to the rebels impressive quantities of arms, munitions and other war materials France had already agreed to provide to them to fight their war. Since Bingham's orders were dated precisely one year to the day before the Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 1775, clearly the decision to separate from Great Britain and seek independence by force of arms had been made well before that". RH: By a small group of conspirators conniving with the French absolute monarchy.