We’ve celebrated ever since with only one naysayer. John Adams, second president and one of the Founding Fathers responsible, always believed the holiday should be on July 2, the day the Constitutional Congress voted for freedom. But the rest of America stuck to July 4^th. Eventually, Adams and Declaration of Independence wordsmith Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4^th, 50 years to the day the first document was signed, cementing the legend we love to celebrate today.