(KTAL/KMSS) – As schoolchildren, Americans are taught about a fateful day in July when 56 people approved the Declaration of Independence and used cursive to initiate the escape from the reign of King George III, but there are key facts about that day in 1776 that are overlooked or misunderstood, including the date of the signing itself.

You can argue that Independence Day is “technically” July 2 or Aug. 2

The Continental Congress actually voted to declare independence on July 2, through what is known as the Lee Resolution, however, the Declaration was edited, finalized and adopted on July 4. In 1941, July 4 became the day the nation collectively would celebrate its independence. However, it wasn’t until Aug. 2 that the document was signed by the larger group of founding fathers.

There may have been an obvious reason for John Hancock’s large signature

John Hancock’s bold signature has inspired patriotic lore, with one popular telling explaining that he wanted the British to be able to “read his name without spectacles.” While it’s unclear what his motivation was for signing so large, there is another theory: Hancock held the title of President of the Continental Congress. As a result, he signed the document first, with no need to fit his signatures into those around him. The large signature stood out to many, and that’s why, to this day, people ask you to put your John Hancock on something when they want you to sign a document.

It’s sometimes said a woman “signed” the Declaration of Independence

Mary Katharine Goddard was a colonial-era journalist. She was also the postmistress of Baltimore, Maryland. She came from a family of printers and newspaper publishers and was the very first publisher to print the version of the Declaration of Independence which included the names of the signers.

A close look at the very bottom of this early version of the document will reveal the words:

“Baltimore in Maryland: Printed by MARY KATHARINE GODDARD.”

The King of England response to the revolutionaries

The first version of the Declaration of Independence sent to England had only two names on it: John Hancock and Charles Thomson. The document – known as the Dunlap Broadside – did not reach London until more than a month later, reportedly Aug. 10, 1776, and it is unclear if the king ever read the document for himself. However, during a speech to the Joint Session of the House of Peers on Oct. 31, 1776, George III acknowledged the understanding that his North American subjects had no intention of ending their rebellion.

“In this arduous contest I can have no other object but to promote the true interests of all my subjects,” King George III said, as reported by the Sons of the American Revolution. “No people ever enjoyed more happiness, or lived under a milder government, than those now revolted provinces… My desire is to restore to them the blessings of law and liberty, equally enjoyed by every British subject, which they have fatally and desperately exchanged for the calamities of war, and the arbitrary tyranny of chiefs.”

The fighting would persist until 1783, when the new United States emerged victorious.

Following the Revolutionary War, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, “You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it.”

Famously, Adams, and Tomas Jefferson would die on the same day, July 4th, 1826.