Introducing our original design shirt! "Happy July 2" is emblazoned on the front, with John Adams' famous pronouncement on the back:
"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.”
— John Adams, Philadelphia, July 3, 1776
This shirt is perfect for celebrating America's birthday in style! It's made of high-quality materials, and is sure to be comfortable and long-wearing. Get yours today!
The shirt:
- Heather grey - Made in the USA shirt. 90% cotton / 10% poly. Cotton grown, and shirts knitted, dyed, and sewn in the USA. 4.4 oz. S - 3XL. See size chart.
- Light blue heather - Our standard 4.3 oz. poly-cotton shirt that gets rave reviews. Our softest shirt. It's also our thinnest and lightest. It is very high-quality and long-wearing, but it is thin and light. Lots of people love them, which you can see in the reviews, but if you judge t-shirt quality based on weight or thickness, do not get this one. Sizes S - 3X. See size chart.
Note that the $3 price difference for the 100% cotton Made in the USA shirt is our higher wholesale cost; there is no additional margin.
You may also find this design in a women's v-neck shirt, women's tank top, and a sticker.
Historical background behind the Design
John Adams, writing to his wife from Philadelphia on July 3:
"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."
(Spelling from the original. "Epocha" is an archaic form of "epoch.")
Why July 2? The Continental Congress declared freedom from Britain on July 2. They approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4.
As explained by The Constitution Center:
After voting on independence on July 2, the Continental Congress then needed to draft a document explaining the move to the public. It had been proposed in draft form by the Committee of Five (John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson) and it took two days for the Congress to agree on the edits.
Once the Congress approved the actual Declaration of Independence document on July 4, it ordered that it be sent to a printer named John Dunlap. About 200 copies of the “Dunlap Broadside” version of the document were printed, with John Hancock’s name printed at the bottom. Today, 26 copies remain.
That is why the Declaration has the words, “IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776,” at its top, because that is the day the approved version was signed in Philadelphia.
On July 8, 1776, Colonel John Nixon of Philadelphia read a printed Declaration of Independence to the public for the first time on what is now called Independence Square."