The Fourth of July
Even though discontentment and hostilities had reared their ugly head by 1775 few of our ancestors of the original Thirteen Colonies imagined what complete independence from Great Britain would mean. Those who thought about such things were seen as radicals. However, with growing hostilities and greater discontentment the ideas of these same radicals began to take root.
Some time ago someone gave to me a copy of an article published in the London Times this year called “the Death of Common Sense, ” which spoke of the death of the spirit of revolutionary thought and true common sense in our lives. It made sense in a very thought provoking manner. While trying to think about what to write for this article and thinking about the upcoming Fourth of July and what it should mean for Americans, I was reminded about Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense” published in 1776 which was THE written impetus for our Revolutionary idealist forefathers to argue for freedom from British rule, a rule of tyranny that no longer served the people of the American colonies. Perhaps we need to go back to thinking about what is truly “common sense.”
Let us also remember though what exactly declaring Independence from your parent country meant to our forefathers. By 1776 this was inevitable. In June 1776 Virginia Delegate to the Continental Congress, Richard Henry Lee (yes, the great uncle of Robert E. Lee of the Civil War era) introduced a motion calling for the colonies to declare independence. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of Lee's resolution for independence. It was ratified on July 4, 1776.
John Adams, who wrote about everything that was going on to his wife Abigail, sent her a letter on July 2nd 1776 stating that “ … [this day] will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” He was quite right as usual.
Did common sense win out then? Perhaps that even through our discontentment we honored and remembered what it meant to be free and independent; so much so as to continue the celebrations that started with the ratification of a document that would change the lives of the American Colonies as we ll as the world. That it was common sense to seek out revolutionary thought when nothing else is working.
It seemed that afterwards, people continued their celebrations. After having been accustomed to celebrating the King’s Birthday as a holiday these early Americans transferred their intentions for celebration which included food, fun and fireworks to celebrating independence. Festivities including concerts, bonfires, parades and the firing of cannons and muskets, which usually accompanied the first public readings of the Declaration of Independence and began immediately after its adoption, would continue to our day.
After seven long years of fighting for that independence and the creation of a new government, the Fourth of July took on an even deeper meaning in the hearts of the new young Nation and was celebrated with much the same along family gatherings and hospitality. After the War of 1812, the second War of Independence, the idea of celebrating the ideals of independence was preeminent.
By the time of the Civil War (1861) people had been celebrating their independence for 85 years. A newspaper in California (the Daily Alta California) wrote in 1855 that the 4th of July should be honored as “Hallowed be the day, forever bright its memory in the heart of the Nation. Sing to it, poets; shout to it, free men; celebrate it with bonfires, parades, and triumphant assemblies.” During the Civil War - July 4th celebrations still continued even though the Nation was divided. The greatest example of what the 4th of July was like during this period occurred during 1863 when even though the previous days were literally like living in “h - - - ,” people celebrated the Union Victories at both Vicksburg and Gettysburg with fireworks and gatherings.
Since then we have fought in many more wars invoking the same ideals as to why we declared independence from a tyrannical king in the first place. However, do we today understand what it truly means to celebrate the 4th of July? We gather as families, we sing patriotic songs and we eat heartily. But do we understand why? Let us not abandon free thought and freedoms, let us truly celebrate what it means to be an American, but let us not forget common sense either. So in a world of discontent, uncertainty, budget woes and hostilities, let us also not forget family, friends and the reasons for celebration.