Well, I declare!

                 The elementary school teacher stood before our third-grade class and asked what the Fourth of July represented.  One kid said it was a day when he could eat as many hot dogs he wanted without his mom getting mad at him.  Another recalled it as a time to hang the American flag on his front porch.
                 My favorite was the answer delivered with unintentional comedic precision by one of my best friends.  As the teacher queried the class, he frantically waved his hand high in the air and shouted "Ooh! Ooh!" much like Arnold Horshack, the goofball "Sweathog" from the 1970s sitcom, "Welcome Back, Kotter."
                When the teacher finally called on him, he slid out from his wooden desk, stood proudly and said, "It means the decoration of Independence!" 
                His hysterical malaprop aside, the kid wasn't entirely incorrect.  What with the presenting of the stars and stripes and the tacking up of red, white and blue bunting, we indeed decorate our independence every July Fourth.  It's a time-honored way Americans demonstrate their love of country.
                We know hot dogs taste especially good off the grill that day.  But how much do you truly know about the Declaration of Independence, the document that got the ball rolling 237 years ago?  Yeah, yeah, we've memorized passages such as "When in the course of human events......." and "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal."  But can you name the first person to sign the declaration?  Do you know which English king the document addressed?  Do you know what the document was written on?
              So, go ahead on Thursday, scarf down those hot dogs and wave those flags.  But beforehand, take a few moments to find out how much, or little, you know about the document that started it all.  I present the Independence Day 13, one head-stratching question for each colony.

1. Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?
a) Pearl S. Buck
b) Thomas Jefferson
c) Benjamin Franklin
d) Benjamin Franklin Pierce
2. From which English philosopher did the declaration committee get ideas for the document?
a) John Locke
b) Sir Francis Bacon
c) Bernard Mayo
d) Nigel Mustard
3. Who was the first person in Congress to sign the declaration?
a) John Hancock
b) Francis Lightfoot Lee
c) Button Gwinnett
d) Richard Stockton
4. Who was the oldest signer of the declaration, at age 70?
a) John Adams
b) Samuel Adams
c) Bryan Adams
d) Benjamin Franklin
5. On what material was the original declaration written?
a) Paper
b) Wood
c) Stretched animal skin
d) Betsy Ross's apron
6. Which colony did not vote on the adoption of the declaration?
a) Pennsylvania
b) New Jersey
c) New York
d) New Hampshire
7. Which signers of the declaration died on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day of its adoption?
a) Benjamin Franklin and John Stockton
b) Thomas Jefferson and Robert Morris
c) Benjamin Franklin and George Clymer
d) Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
8. Where was Benjamin Franklin born?
a) Lancaster
b) Boston
c) Philadelphia
d) Hamden, Conn.
9. Which Oscar-winning actress is a direct descendant of one of the signers of the declaration?
a) Susan Sarandon
b) Reese Witherspoon
c) Jessica Lange
d) Jodie Foster
10. Who was the only Catholic to sign the declaration?
a) Charles Carroll
b) Thomas McKean
c) Elbridge Gerry
d) Thomas Lynch, Jr.
11. From which king of Great Britain was independence declared?
a) William I
b) George II
c) George III
d) James I
12. One in eight signers of the declaration hailed from which college/university?
a) University of Pennsylvania
b) Harvard University
c) Quachita Baptist (Conn.)
d) Virginia Trinity
13. What was the estimated population of America at the time of the declaration?
a) 2.5 million
b) 5 million
c) 6 million
d) 9 million



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Answers : 1. b  ; 2. a  ; 3. a  ; 4. d  ; 5. c  ; 6. c  ; 7. d  ; 8. b  ; 9. b  ; 10. a  ; 11. c  ; 12. b  ; 13. a