The arbitrary date of of declared independence in a that had already begun.

As a note of interest (perhaps), the first confrontation between armed (Massachusetts) militiamen and British soldiers occured on Sunday at a drawbridge. The militia, on the other bank of the stream, refused to drop the bridge and some other locals hatcheted the nearby boats. Not a shot was fired, however: making terms with the British, the militia marked off a set number of paces on their side and lowered the bridge. When the British marched across to the set point, they turned and marched back from whence they came, never retrieving the store of arms they'd been sent after (and, which, had already been relocated during the days procedure).