Before families settle down for their Fourth of July spread of food, one of the children is likely going to be asked to recite the preamble to the Declaration of Independence.

The first time it was publicly read here was on Monday, Aug. 5, 1776. Actually, the Declaration. of Independence arrived by express in Charleston on Aug. 2, 1776. The following day, a Saturday, the local government ordered that all Sunday services omit prayers for the King of Great Britain and his royal family.

At noon on Monday, Aug. 5, 1776, the town regiment was drawn up under arms on Broad Street. The state's president of the legislative lower house, John Rutledge, other members of the house, and of the privy council appeared on Broad Street in parade and halted before the regiment. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud to those gathered.

The procession then moved slowly east on Broad Street to the Exchange Building where it was read a second time. When the reading was concluded there was a multitude of cheers and the discharge of two cannons.

That afternoon, it was read to the Grenadier Company of the Second Regiment of regulars at the Liberty Tree, which was then on property now part of the Gaillard Auditorium. The Declaration was read by Capt. Bernard Elliott and a sermon was preached by William Percy. The following day, it was read to the regulars at Fort Sullivan and Fort Moultrie.

South Carolina was no longer a colony, it was a state.

RUTH W. CUPP

1031 Chuck Dawley

Mount Pleasant