Why do we celebrate July 4th? Well the short answer is because America, you know, freedom,
explosions, liberty, explosions, independence, explosions and of course trading out one George
for another. But the longer answer is, much too complicated to tackle in a short YouTube
video so let’s not ask why we celebrate and instead answer why we do it on the fourth.
There are many dates that could be considered America’s birthday, the first probably being
April 19th 1775 when the “shot heard round the world” was fired at the battle of Concord,
beginning the American War of Independence. But maybe that’s a little bit too early or
too random of an event. When did the Continental Congress (the delegates
from all thirteen colonies who directed the war) decide that they should be independent?
Well for most of 1775 independence still wasn’t all that popular of an
idea. The delegates wanted their grievances addressed by the British government, sure,
but only the most radical among them called for complete and total separation from the British
crown. It was two events in December 1775 and January 1776 that turned those in favour of
independence into a majority. The first was a ban on trade with the Americans by the British
Parliament but the second was the publishing of Thomas Paine’s revolutionary pamphlet,
Common Sense, which spread egalitarian ideals of self-determination all across
the colonies. Common Sense is still the best-selling book in American history.
Their were also practical reasons, notably the fact that the French wouldn’t aid the colonies
if their ultimate aim wasn’t separation from Britain, so on June 7th 1776 Richard Henry Lee
of Virginia proposed a motion in the Continental congress to declare independence and 4 days later,
on the 11th, Congress created the Committee of Five which would pen a declaration.
The Committee’s members were two future presidents John Adams of Massachusetts,
and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, as well as Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Roger
Sherman and Robert Livingston of Connecticut New York, but I guess the others must have
had more important things to do because Jefferson wrote the declaration pretty much all by himself,
with the others and later the congress as a whole only making some minor changes.
On the day Congress voted in favour of independence Adams wrote home to his wife
saying that it would quote: “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 Shews, Games, Sports, Guns,
Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time
forward forever more” which sounds a whole lot like today’s holiday, only Adams wasn’t talking
about July 4th because the day congress voted in favour of independence was actually the 2nd.
The 4th of July was the day that the wording of the declaration was officially accepted
by congress, but it definitely wasn’t the day that independence itself was accepted,
that had already been done, or when the delegates signed it,
because that day doesn’t really exist. Different delegates ratified the declaration at different
times with the last, Thomas McKean of Delaware, not signing until 1777.
But, still, with the declaration enacted that was it, right? No, the declaration of
independence had very little practical effect and it was blown off completely in Britain.
(Though some in Ireland were fans) America wouldn’t fully achieve effective independence
until after the Battle of Yorktown on October 19th 1781, which saw the defeat of the last
significant British force in America. Still, Britain and much of the world didn’t accept
America’s independence for another two years until the signing of the treaty of Paris in 1783.
So then why did July 4th, and not the 2nd when congress actually accepted the idea
of independence, become America’s independence day? Or even April 19th when the war began or
September 3rd, when the treaty that ended it was signed? Well, because the 4th is the day
that the American people decided on. As early as 1777 celebrations of Independence were held
all across America on the 4th, including the lighting of enormous bonfires and, naturally,
playing drinking games. In 1778 General, not yet President, George Washington ordered a
double ration of rum for his soldiers as well as a cannon salute to celebrate the 4th. But
despite the popular celebrations, the US government, as is rather characteristic,
actually took a really long time to formally recognize the July 4th as a holiday; it wasn’t
made one for nearly a hundred years, until 1870, and it wasn’t a paid day off until 1938.
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out why New York City isn’t the American capital or watch another video on the left. And as always,
I’ve been James and thank you for watching Look Back History.