A "Letter from America" on this, the day that Americans celebrate getting rid of the King and being their own country, a smart move that Scotland would do well to emulate. My most grateful thanks to Danny once again. Happy 4th of July to you Danny and all American readers.
Independence Day in America is the great historical holiday of the nation. The “Fourth of July” is the time when Americans leave their air-conditioned homes and venture out into the blistering heat of summer to grill hamburgers and hot dogs, play games, and shoot firecrackers. At nightfall, the sky is filled with the bursts of fireworks. It’s a noisy day, and a remarkable one in American history, as Americans celebrate what happened at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia in July of 1776.
The tradition of fireworks on the Fourth of July originated with a letter John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail. Adams had been a leader of the radical faction within the Congress who pushed for a complete break with the Crown, as opposed to a simple petition for redress of grievances.
George Washington had attended the Congress as a part of the Virginia delegation with Je
fferson, but had left when he was named to command the Continental Army, such as it was. (Shots had already been exchanged the previous year at Lexington and Concord between the Massachusetts Militia and British Army regulars.) So George Washington wasn't in Philadelphia when the vote for the break with Britain came on July 2.
From an American perspective, independence came with the adoption of the resolution of July 2. It had earlier been decided that a formal declaration should be drafted in the event that full independence were declared. A Committee of Five was appointed which included Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman and Livingston. The task of writing the draft went to Jefferson. And he took the opportunity to compose the soaring prose that became the birth certificate of the nation. On July 4th, the "Declaration of Independence" was adopted by the Congress.
Today, July 4 is celebrated as “Independence Day.” But John Adams had imagined that July 2 would be celebrated as that day when he wrote his letter to Abigail. In it, he said of Independence Day, “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.”
So old John Adams' "bonfires and illuminations" have become the fireworks that light up the sky in America on the Fourth of July.
Famously, the radical revolutionary Adams, who had been on the drafting committee of the Declaration which named King George a “tyrant,” was ironically called upon to learn court etiquette (exactly how and when to bow to King George) so that he could present his credentials as the first American Ambassador to Great Britain.
Later, as the second President, he presided over a troubled one-term administration, sandwiched in time between the towering Washington and the brilliant Jefferson. Political factions had developed after Washington left the scene, and Adams and Jefferson (once great friends) became bitter political enemies. But in later years they reconciled and carried on a famous and historic correspondence.
The final irony came on the fiftieth anniversary of American independence. As July 4, 1826 approached, there was much excitement. Adams was then 90, and Jefferson was 83. About a month earlier, Adams had issued a statement to the press about the upcoming event. Jefferson was very ill, but was looking forward to the Fourth. But as the date arrived, both men lay on their deathbeds. Adams murmured the name “Thomas Jefferson.” Jefferson had been asking “Is it the fourth yet?” Both of the old revolutionaries of 1776, the second and third Presidents of the United States, died on that very da
y. And on that day, John Quincy Adams, John Adams' second child, was serving as the sixth President of the United States.
As July 4, 1826 had dawned, there were three signers of the Declaration of Independence still living. With the deaths of Adams and Jefferson, only Charles Carroll of Maryland survived. He died in 1832 at the age of 95. And so goes the story of the American Declaration and the Fourth of July.
Pics: John Adams, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pa, then and now, and the Boston skyline with traditional fireworks.
Independence Day in America is the great historical holiday of the nation. The “Fourth of July” is the time when Americans leave their air-conditioned homes and venture out into the blistering heat of summer to grill hamburgers and hot dogs, play games, and shoot firecrackers. At nightfall, the sky is filled with the bursts of fireworks. It’s a noisy day, and a remarkable one in American history, as Americans celebrate what happened at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia in July of 1776.
The tradition of fireworks on the Fourth of July originated with a letter John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail. Adams had been a leader of the radical faction within the Congress who pushed for a complete break with the Crown, as opposed to a simple petition for redress of grievances.
George Washington had attended the Congress as a part of the Virginia delegation with Je
fferson, but had left when he was named to command the Continental Army, such as it was. (Shots had already been exchanged the previous year at Lexington and Concord between the Massachusetts Militia and British Army regulars.) So George Washington wasn't in Philadelphia when the vote for the break with Britain came on July 2.From an American perspective, independence came with the adoption of the resolution of July 2. It had earlier been decided that a formal declaration should be drafted in the event that full independence were declared. A Committee of Five was appointed which included Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman and Livingston. The task of writing the draft went to Jefferson. And he took the opportunity to compose the soaring prose that became the birth certificate of the nation. On July 4th, the "Declaration of Independence" was adopted by the Congress.
Today, July 4 is celebrated as “Independence Day.” But John Adams had imagined that July 2 would be celebrated as that day when he wrote his letter to Abigail. In it, he said of Independence Day, “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.”
So old John Adams' "bonfires and illuminations" have become the fireworks that light up the sky in America on the Fourth of July.
Famously, the radical revolutionary Adams, who had been on the drafting committee of the Declaration which named King George a “tyrant,” was ironically called upon to learn court etiquette (exactly how and when to bow to King George) so that he could present his credentials as the first American Ambassador to Great Britain.
Later, as the second President, he presided over a troubled one-term administration, sandwiched in time between the towering Washington and the brilliant Jefferson. Political factions had developed after Washington left the scene, and Adams and Jefferson (once great friends) became bitter political enemies. But in later years they reconciled and carried on a famous and historic correspondence.
The final irony came on the fiftieth anniversary of American independence. As July 4, 1826 approached, there was much excitement. Adams was then 90, and Jefferson was 83. About a month earlier, Adams had issued a statement to the press about the upcoming event. Jefferson was very ill, but was looking forward to the Fourth. But as the date arrived, both men lay on their deathbeds. Adams murmured the name “Thomas Jefferson.” Jefferson had been asking “Is it the fourth yet?” Both of the old revolutionaries of 1776, the second and third Presidents of the United States, died on that very da
y. And on that day, John Quincy Adams, John Adams' second child, was serving as the sixth President of the United States.As July 4, 1826 had dawned, there were three signers of the Declaration of Independence still living. With the deaths of Adams and Jefferson, only Charles Carroll of Maryland survived. He died in 1832 at the age of 95. And so goes the story of the American Declaration and the Fourth of July.
Pics: John Adams, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pa, then and now, and the Boston skyline with traditional fireworks.
