Write a caption... Today, July 4, is the day we celebrate the Independence of the United States. But is July 4 really the right date? We pick July 4 because it is the date that the Declaration of Independence was passed in 1776. However, a resolution of Independence was passed 2 days earlier on July 2, 1776. At the moment, it was that resolution which was considered to be the bigger deal. John Adams wrote to his wife Abagail on July 3 that he thought July 2 would be celebrated. However, while July 2 or 4 may have created de jure independence, it didn't really change affairs on the ground. Large chunks of the country were still occupied by the British, including the first capital of the United States, New York. In modern terms, we often associate independence with recognition by other independent countries. In that case, the first time the independent US was recognized by another country occurred on November 16, 1776, when the American ship Andrew Doria arrived on the Caribbean island of St Eustatius. The ship's captain, Isaiah Robinson fired a 13 gun salute to the fort, one for each of the 13 states. The Dutch commander of Fort Oranje replied with an 11 gun salute, as the protocol was to reply with 2 guns less in an acknowledgment of a sovereign flag. The first country to semi-formally recognize an independent United States was.......Morocco. In December 1777 Moroccan sultan Muhammad III listed the United States on the list of countries to which their ports would be open to shipping. Frace provided an explicit recognition of the US on February 6, 1778. Salutes and recognition are all well and good, but de facto independence didn't occur until the Revolutionary War was over. That occurred on October 19, 1781 when General Cornwallis surrendered at the battle of Yorktown. Even though the fighting had stopped, Britain still claimed sovereignty over the 13 states. That wasn't formally resolved, and British recognition of American independence didn't occur until the Treat of Paris which was signed on September 3, 1783. July 4, however, is the date that stuck. As soon as 1777 celebrations occurred on July 4, not July 2. (at Independence Hall)