Button Gwinnett didn’t want to be in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress in the summer of 1776, and not just because a heat wave gripped the city and delegates dressed in wool and powdered wigs.
—
Adam Van Brimmer,
AJC.com,
30 June 2026
But on July 2, 1776, as the mighty British army sailed into New York Harbor, the delegates in Philadelphia's Independence Hall voted yea.
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.