U.S. adopted Declaration of Independence with population of 2.5 million
Wednesday, July 4, 2012 at 7:00AM 
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted, and a newly declared people fought for freedom from one of the world’s great powers. There's a census record for the U.S. population on that date.
Official government records accounted for a population of 2.5 million. That number has grown to more than 313 million.
When Lord Cornwallis yielded to American and French troops at Yorktown in October, 1781, America began the great experiment that resulted in one of the greatest, if not the greatest, nations in recorded history.
That good outcome relies on safekeeping the U.S. Constitution and Amendments.
It’s tempting to wonder what George Washington would think of our current situation.
I think Washington would be perfectly in sync with cutting the size of our government because as government expands, freedom contracts.
Sometimes it’s worth a walk through history to remind ourselves how we got started and to think about the passion of those Revolutionary War fighters whose quest for freedom was worth risking their lives.
We should be vigilant. What we hold is invaluable and worth defending. We should remember that on July 4, 2012.
As for the British, the value of trade last year between the U.S. and the United Kingdom was more than $107 billion. Our original adversary is now our sixth-leading trading partner.
As for Cornwallis, he didn’t surrender in person at Yorktown. That’s one reason George Washington is on the brown horse in the background on the painting Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull. The painting, shown above, hangs in the rotunda of the capitol in Washington, D. C.
Happy July 4 to all our readers from The US Report.
(Commentary by Kay B. Day/July 4, 2012)