On July 4th in 1803, news of the Louisiana
Purchase reached Washington. On July 4th, 1826, both Thomas Jefferson
and John Adams died. On July 4,
1863, President Abraham Lincoln learned of the
Union victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg, signifying the beginning of
the end of the Confederacy. General Lee never regained Union territory.
Read on and pick up some more tidbits to impress friends at this year’s
July fourth BBQ. The fireworks won’t be the only things sparkling!
In order to declare our independence from Great
Britain, Congress appointed a committee of five to write The Declaration
of Independence. It included: John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin
Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert
Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut. Of these five,
Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write the majority. Although Jefferson
was a very gifted writer, the main reason he was chosen was his status
as a Virginian. Virginia was the oldest and considered the most
prestigious colony.
In his first draft, Jefferson (a slave owner
himself) included slavery as one of the grievances against the King of
Great Britain. The original draft included the following. “He [King
George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating
its most sacred right of life and liberty in the persons of a distant
people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into
slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their
transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of
infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain…
He is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to
purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the
people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes
committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he
urges them to commit against the lives of another.” The clause was
removed because it was imperative that all the representatives,
including those from slave-owning southern states, support it.
On July 1, 1776, all but Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted to approve the
Declaration. They changed their minds the next day. So, on July 2nd Congress approved the Declaration of Independence.
John Adams, in one of his now famous letters to wife Abigail, penned,
“The second day of July, 1776, 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.”
Today we celebrate our independence from Britain
and the birth of our Democracy pretty much the way Adams foretold, with
parades and picnics, fireworks and frivolities. We just do it two days
hence. However you plan on celebrating the birth of our nation, I pray
it is filled with family, friends and patriotic pleasures.
Contact Margaret Lavin at elementarydays@gmail.com.
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