Some people think Independence Day commemorates the day representatives from the thirteen colonies voted to separate from the United Kingdom—but that happened on July 2, 1776. The date we honor, July 4, is instead the day the Continental Congress settled on the wording of the Declaration of Independence. As the document’s final paragraph notes, the delegates were “the Representatives of the United States” acting “by Authority of the good People of these Colonies.” But as the story of the Declaration’s signing reminds us, the founding of the United States was the work not of a day but of months and years. Start today: Give a huzzah for August 2, the day the Declaration began to be signed.