Should the Rest of US Care About the Fourth of July?

It is remarkable to me how little I know about America – esp. having lived here way longer than the length of the Bush Administration. It is more remarkable to my friends how little I realize that there is a public holiday approaching. Apparently 4th of July is one. Why should I care? What did July 4 ever do for me?

Nothing. That’s what.

OK, maybe a little bit.

To prove my ignorance once and for all, I’ve decided to give everyone a little history lesson. Let’s begin.

July 4 1776 and a hardy group of lads, declaring themselves to be the Thirteen United States of America, decide to adopt a little thing called the Declaration of Independence. This little thing essentially told King George III and the British Empire to nick off.

At the heart of the Declaration of Independence was a preamble that was positively inspired  for its time:

We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Cool. I think.

Meanwhile, the Declaration of Independence was followed by the adoption on September 17, 1787 of another revolutionary document, The United States Constitution. On April 30, 1789 young George Washington was elected as the first President of the United States and went on to win the little war thingy with the Brits.

Although celebrated upon publication, the Declaration was initially neglected following the American Revolution. It’s symbolic stature grew over the years, most notably through the influence of Abraham Lincoln, who viewed the Declaration as an ideal for which the nation should strive. BTW that was 80 odd years later (Lincoln was elected President in 1861, had a funny beard, led America through the Civil War, helped abolish slavery and had a disastrous night at the Theatre).

So what was revolutionary exactly? Well you might recall from those endless hours in Mrs Wiglesworth’s history class that the predominant European tradition of the time celebrated monarchies with a heavy dose of class structure. America’s founders wanted something new and drew upon more “enlightened” ideas that placed lots of emphasis on individual liberty and constraining the power of government through division of powers and a system of checks and balances. (You know the Judges, the House & Senate and the President’s dudes all watch each other carefully and equally).

Bottom line was the idea that power was bestowed by the many (“We the People …” ) to a few. And if that didn’t go well the many would soon have a chance to kick out those bungling few. Ah Democracy. Wonder how that little experiment is working out?

Bored yet? I know I am. BUT hey nothing in this life is easy. Sit down and stop eating those cookies.

Here is my point: These idea articulated in 1776 and 1787 have STILL NOT BEEN ACHIEVED RIGHT HERE IN AMERICA!!! In fact Dick, Junior and Friends seem to have spent the past 7 years and longer doing everything their Machiavellian little brains can think of to ensure that power goes back into the hands of the few. The insane expansion of the powers of the President, the suppression of honest, rational and open debate on legislation that has funneled billions of dollars to corporations and corrupt regimes; the promulgation of torture and suppression of civil liberties; the demonization of all opponents under the whitewash of being “unpatriotic”.

So long live July 4th America I say. The people of the entire world would be better served if we all live up to those early ideals.

jxx

For A Little More Irreverent History – Here We Go

With a little help from Wikipedia, my even less informed summary of what triggered July 4 …

• In 1763 Britain found itself with lots of debt from its involvement in the Seven Year War (the what …?)
• The Brits thought it would be a jolly good idea to impose hefty taxes on the Americans to help pay their bills
• The Americans thought “not bloody likely” and “no taxation without representation” and “where’s our tea party?” and other such naughty things
• From the midst of all of the going on’s in Boston emerged several iconic figures including John Adams and John Hancock.
• John Adams later signed a lucrative deal with HBO and is now living in a mansion in Bel Air
• Meanwhile Britain upped the ante and enacted nastier laws against US States (esp. MA)… skirmishes developed into rip roaring bar brawls, and lads like Thomas Jefferson began arguing that the Brits really needed to mind their own bloody business
• And thus a little war broke out with the Mothership during which the Declaration of Independence was signed

The next chain of events went something like this:

• Virginia set up a committee to represent the colonies
• In September 1774 the First Continental Congress met and drew up a list of grievances
• George Washington took command of the Continental Army and began fighting the British (This Revolutionary War went on for 8 years!)
• On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress debated a list of grievances called the Declaration of Independence
• On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was formally approved by the Congress
• The actual document was mostly signed on August 2nd
• The first bloke to sign it was John Hancock, the President of this Congress
• Another signer was John Adams, the first Vice President and the Second President of the USofA
• Fifty-six men in total signed the DOI in geographic order of the colonies they represented, from north to south.
• A guy called Benjamin Franklin said, upon signing the Declaration of Independence, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately,”  – that was an understatement
• In 1781, Massachusetts became the first to officially designate the Fourth of July as a holiday

… thank goodness because now we can all sit in traffic, listen to Ryan Seacrest and wonder about the glory of days gone by.

PS & Finally: Strange July 4 Moments

• 1826 – John Adams (2nd President) & Thomas Jefferson (3rd President) both drop dead on July 4. NOTE this was the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and I for one am amazed there are not more conspiracy theories about it.
• 1827 – Slavery is abolished in New York State.
• 1831 – James Monroe (5th President) also drops dead
• 1850 – Zachary Taylor (12th President) catches bad cold celebrating July 4th and dies 5 days later 
• 1865 – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is published.
• 1872 – Calvin Coolidge (30th President) reverses the trend and is born on July 4th in Vermont
• 1986 – Takahisa Masuda, Japanese singer is born. (What? … I am sure it meant a lot to the Masuda’s)
• 2006 – North Korea tests missiles including the Taepodong-2, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of GWB’s Axis of Evil policies and providing hours of entertainment for the writers of The Daily Show

 

(You have more things to add to the list? Vehemently disagree? Let me hear it!)