Independence Day: How did they survive the 1770s?

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    On July 4, 1776 members of the Continental Congress approved and signed the Declaration of Independence - creating the United States of America. But it took days for the word to spread across the new nation and England's King George III wouldn't see the document for weeks. Now, what if they had today's technology in 1776?

    The real Declaration of Independence.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    Here's the official email sent to King George.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    Before sending, it was spell checked, of course. The highlighted words were deemed acceptable by dictionary.com.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    Digital signers of the Declaration would have certainly plugged their social media.

    John Hancock asked that his signature be given a larger resolution so the King George could read it without using his 32-inch monitor.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    Getting ready to sign the Declaration.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    So how did people find out about the Declaration of Independence?

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    Twitter at the forefront of another revolution. Thomas Jefferson kept the public up-to-date on the progress of the document.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    Before submitting to the Continental Congress, Ben Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jeffererson printed enough hard copies for the Patriots to read and edit.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    Let freedom ring. The Liberty Bell chimed in on the celebration. You could have joined in and listened to these MPEG files before and after it was cracked.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    The armed conflict leading up to the Declaration of Independence began in 1775 when the British planned to send troops to capture John Adams, John Hancock, and a possible cache of weapons hidden by the colonists.

    But, as Longfellow immortalized in his poem: "Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight text by Paul Revere," the word was spread and Minutemen were ready to meet the British regulars at the Battle of Lexington and Concord the next day.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    So how did the colonists know that the British were assembling their troops to look for weapons, John Adams and John Hancock?

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    The "shot heard 'round the world" would have probably originated from an Apache helicopter.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    One of the most famous pre-Revolutionary War incidents was the dumping of products that were taxed by the British government without giving colonists a say in the matter. Was that tea or Red Bull? And who were the people dumping the goods?

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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    This photo of this anonymous group was alleged taken after they left the ship.

    Caption by: Andy Smith

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On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence and sent it by ship to King George III to read it weeks later. What if they had today's technology?

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On July 4, 1776 members of the Continental Congress approved and signed the Declaration of Independence - creating the United States of America. But it took days for the word to spread across the new nation and England's King George III wouldn't see the document for weeks. Now, what if they had today's technology in 1776?

The real Declaration of Independence.

Caption by: Andy Smith

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