The importance of the 4th of July is not the signing of the Declaration of Independence – historians agree that almost certainly happened over several days in August – but committing to publishing. 250 years later, well into the electronic era, and at the dawn of artificial intelligence, publishing is poised to make a comeback in importance.
After high school, one of the random jobs I had was working in a print shop. One small but steady line of their business came from lawyers, as some court business expected traditional stationary. I got trained on what was considered a dead-end, low status position in the shop, running an old-school platen letterpress. I cast type from molten lead, assembled it in a rack, spread ink on a roller, and then hand-fed paper into the machine as its giant iron jaws opened and closed rhythmically.
Printing demanded commitment to verifying accuracy. If a mistake was made anywhere between receiving the customer's order and feeding the paper into the press, it could be a crippling loss to the business, from paper stock to lost work time to damaged reputation.
Electronic publishing, moving close to light speed without a physical component, degraded the importance of the commitment to accuracy. Refreshing the browser appeared to magically change reality. Previous mistakes seemed to vanish from existence after edits and deletes. Software developers knew better, as they struggled with permanent effects like cache invalidation, but their cries went unheeded.
Today, journalism has largely given up College professors describe students submitting work they can't explain.
On July 2nd 1776, the Continental Congress voted the colonies independent from Britain. This act officially began the revolution, so John Adams among others thought history would celebrate that date. But although local (Philadelphia) newspapers reported the vote, the report of the vote was not the same as official announcement and explanation.
Two days later, July 4th, Congress approved the final edits to the Declaration's text, and tasked the drafting committee with printing it. Franklin and Jefferson went to printer John Dunlap around 6pm. Dunlap worked through the night, producing 200 copies – dated July 4th – by the morning of July 5th.
Those copies then began to be distributed at various speeds. For example, the Pennsylvania Evening Post re-printed it the day after receiving, on July 6th. Washington had it read to the Army, gathered in New York City, on July 9th. Another copy went on a ship to England, arriving many weeks later.
As word spread, the date associated was July 4, the publishing. Most historians now agree the "engrossed" copy – the famous handwritten version, with the big "John Hancock" – didn't get signed until August 2, 1776.