Hi, I’m the History Guy. I have a degree in history and I love history,
and if you love history too, this is the channel for you.
This is the week of July 4th which is of course, the day that in the United
States we celebrate our nation's independence, recognizing that date in 1776, 241 years ago,
when the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence which declared “When
in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the
political bonds which connect them to another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
separate but equal status that the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to
the opinions of mankind requires that they declare the causes which impel them to separation.”
But the Declaration of Independence was not the beginning, and most certainly not the fulfillment
of the dream of an independent America. As the History Guy, I humbly submit some other dates
which could lay claim to the title, Independence Day. Dates which deserved to be remembered.
Between 1754 and 1763, Britain and her colonies fought a frontier war that was called the French
and Indian War. And while Britain eventually prevailed over the French, it was left with a
lot of debt from the war, and it tried to pay for some of those debts by taxing the American
colonies. But many in the colonies disagreed, they argued that since they had no representation
in Parliament, that Parliament had no right to levy taxes on them. That cause, ‘Taxation
without Representation’ became central to the cause of American liberty. And thus the date
of August 14th, 1765, states a claim to the title of Independence Day, because that was the date of
the first public act by a group called The Sons of Liberty, who hung in effigy of a Massachusetts tax
official on a tree in Boston that became known as the Liberty Tree. The Sons of Liberty were a group
of leaders who worked across the colonies who had lead us down the path of American independence.
Among the Sons of Liberty were people like Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere.
But October 7th of that year also has a claim, because that's when we
convened the Stamp Act Congress, where elected representatives, from nine different colonies,
got together to petition the English Crown for a redress of grievances regarding the Stamp Act,
and the general practice of ‘Taxation without Representation’. October 7th of 1765,
lays a good claim to the title Independence Day, it is the first time that elected representatives,
of several of the American colonies, got together to coordinate a response to new British taxation.
And while the Stamp Act and some other taxes were repealed in 1766,
they were replaced in 1767 by the Townshend Acts, which were more taxes on the colonies,
and which were enacted specifically to reaffirm the right of the Crown to tax the American
colonies. But in the face of American boycotts, even many of those were repealed in 1770,
but one was not a tax on tea. And thus the date December 16th of 1773, stakes its claim to the
title of Independence Day, because on that day the Sons of Liberty marched down to Boston Harbor,
and in opposition to the Tea Tax, threw an entire ship load of British tea into the ocean. December
16th of 1773, has a good claim to the title of Independence Day because many people see the
Boston Tea Party as the beginning of the American Revolution. Outraged, the British Parliament
passed a number of punitive acts against the people of Massachusetts. In America those acts
were called the Intolerable Acts, and they led to the creation of the First Continental Congress.
Thus September 5th 1774, has a claim. The First Continental Congress was convened to
petition the king to repeal the Intolerable Acts. While the First Continental Congress
did not call for Independence, it created the conditions under which independence
would be demanded. And it called for the states to raise the militias that would
eventually fight the American Revolution. Which gives claim to the date of April
18th 1775. On that day British troops tried to disarm one of those militias,
leading to the first shots of the American Revolution at the battles of Lexington and
Concord. Surely the shot heard around the world has a claim to the title of Independence Day.
As does May 10th of that year, when the failure to repeal the Intolerable Acts
resulted in the convening of the Second Continental Congress. The convening of
the Continental Congress that organized and paid for the American Revolution,
certainly has some claim to the title of Independence Day. As does July 2nd of 1776,
when that Congress voted in support of the Lee Resolution, officially voting to declare
independence from England. That's right, Congress had already declared independence
from Britain two days before July 4th. On July 4th, they signed the document explaining why.
But declaring independence and achieving independence are two very different things.
And so November 16th, 1776, has a claim, because that is the day that the Dutch
port of St. Eustatius fired a salute to the ship Andrew Doria as it entered the harbor.
As the Andrew Doria was flying the flag of the Continental Congress, that was the first foreign
recognition of the United States. But that was not formal diplomatic recognition, that it
seems required a victory that would prove that the colonists could win their war against the British.
And thus October 17th of 1777, has a claim because that is the day that the British
Army under General John Burgoyne, surrendered to the American army under general Horatio
Gates. Ending the British campaign to control the Hudson River Valley, that was the first
large victory that allowed official recognition and support in Europe, key to winning the war.
And that makes a claim for the date of March 13th 1778, because the French,
encouraged by Gates' victory at Saratoga, made the first truly official recognition
of the United States. With a Treaty of recognition and an exchange of ambassadors
and even more importantly, military support for the American Revolution.
Which then supports the claim of the date of October 19th 1781 as Independence Day, because
that was the day that French support was key to forcing the surrender of the army under Charles
Cornwallis at Yorktown Peninsula in Virginia. This was the turning point that convinced Parliament
that fighting the war was too expensive. British military activity was curtailed thereafter.
But the British had still not capitulated and that's why the date of September 3rd of 1783,
also lays claim to the title of Independence Day. Because it was
on that day that representatives of the United States and the British crown signed
the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the American Revolutionary War,
and in which England officially recognized the independent United States of America. But there
were still British troops occupying the United States, and so November 25th of 1783 has a claim
to the title of Independence Day. Called Evacuation Day, that was the day that the
last British troops left New York City, ending the British occupation of the United States.
And even with all these dates it doesn't end there. You could, for example,
commemorate March the 1st of 1781, with the ratification of the Articles of Confederation,
the first time that 13 American colonies banded together as a single political entity. Or given
the weakness of the articles of the Confederation, you could move on to consider June 21st of 1788,
the ratification of the US Constitution, or March 4th of 1789, the effective date of the
US Constitution as to be the true founding of the nation we call the United States of
America. But even among all these dates, none really has a better claim than July 4th of 1776,
if for no other reason then that was the date that was recognized by the founding fathers as
the birth of the nation. That was the date that they celebrated every year, during the eight long
years of the American Revolution. And maybe they saw that as the founding of the nation,
not so much because what happened on July 4th was different than all these other dates
that were part of the process of gaining American independence, but because the document signed that
day gave such an eloquent synopsis of the cause of American independence. “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. And to
secure those rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed.” Surely a sentiment that deserves to be commemorated on Independence Day.
I'm the History Guy and I hope you enjoyed this edition of my series, five minutes of history,
short snippets have forgotten history five to ten minutes long. If you did enjoy it, please
go ahead and click that thumbs up button which is there on your left. If you have
any questions or comments, if you have other ideas for what should be our Independence Day,
or if you have suggestions for other topics for the History Guy then please feel free
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