It was traditional in the British Colonies to celebrate the king’s birthday every summer, with bonfires, parades, and speeches. During the summer of 1776 they held mock funerals for King George instead — with bonfires, parades, and speeches. They also read the Declaration of Independence aloud as soon as it was adopted. Philadelphia held the first formal Independence Day celebration in 1777, with bells and fireworks; in 1778 General George Washington called for double rations of rum for the troops, and in 1781 Massachusetts was the first to name July 4 an official state holiday. Congress declared it a national holiday in 1870.
Jefferson turned down a request to appear at the 50th anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C.; it was the last letter he ever wrote, and in it he expressed his hope for the Declaration of Independence:
“May it be to the world, what I believe it will be […] the signal of arousing men to burst the chains […] and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. […] All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. […] For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.” WA
“May [Jy 4] be to the world...the signal of arousing men to burst the chains…and to assume the blessings and security of self-government...For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.” https://t.co/5yeKlM2njG
— Phil Oliver (@OSOPHER) July 4, 2021
Independence Day should be at least as much an occasion for personal reflection on the gap between what is and what should be, as for festivity and pyrotechnics. Real patriots know we're not yet all equally free and independent in this society.
— Phil Oliver (@OSOPHER) July 4, 2021
The July 4 holiday always sends me back to Richard Ford, whose 1995 novel Independence Day has a special place in memory because my first reading of it coincided with the happy occasion of the birth of Older Daughter... (continues)
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