[ad_1]
Happy July 4th!
In fact, if John Adams, the second President of the United States had got what he wanted, we would be celebrating July 2nd. It is the day that members of the Continental Congress voted for the first time to endorse the Declaration of Independence.
Twelve of the 13 delegations voted in favor, New York abstained.
Congress adopted it on July 4, 1776, and the Declaration was proclaimed in Philadelphia on July 9 (with New York’s assent).
Well, it’s been an interesting year. On September 6, at a peace conference on Long Island, General Howe called for the declaration of independence to be revoked and the Americans refused. t guess their exact answer.
Among the other stories surrounding July 4th, George III (also known as “Goofy George” King of England) wrote in his diary “Nothing Important Happened Today”.
It is a fine touch of irony but false. George III did not keep a diary – presumably he was literate but lazy. Louis XVI of France wrote it in his diary on July 4, 1789. He was probably just hopeful because 10 days later the French revolted – many French still revolt – and took the Bastille.
We can credit John Adams with this prediction for Independence Day from a letter to his wife: continent to continent, from now on forever more.
To make sure he thought so, Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the recognized adoption of the Declaration.
Thomas Jefferson beat him until just a few hours arrived. With the lack of social media, among Adams’ last words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives.”
In the end, the two old ideological rivals had quickly become friends.
In a footnote to this first fourth, only John Hancock and Charles Thomson signed the draft on July 4, 1776. The other members of the Continental Congress signed it on August 2, 1776.
Being a cautious group at the time, the names of the signatories were withheld from the public for six months. If independence had not been obtained, their act of treason could have resulted in their death. Maybe they didn’t all agree with Patrick Henry.
Let us move forward a few centuries.
Forty-five years ago, the United States of A. celebrated their bicentennial with lots of hoop-dee-doo and foofurraw. Many of my readers probably have memories of the time.
My favorite is the one from the bison farmer who thoughtfully named a young calf Tennial. I hope I don’t have to explain this one (I made it up but found it funny).
Meanwhile, at the ranch, Congress didn’t make July 4 a federal holiday until 1870, and it didn’t become a paid holiday until 1938 (as part of a bill granting statutory holidays for federal government employees).
So what can we expect this year? Adams’ predictions for games, sports, parades, bells, bonfires, and illuminations will likely all happen. He also mentioned guns – I hope we as a nation can break the chain of gun violence – that’s not what John had in mind.
We can anticipate more than 1,000 injuries from fireworks – my Uncle Lloyd made the mistake of holding a Roman candle in front of him when it discharged the wrong way round – but most are due to injuries. spark burns.
Americans will eat more than 155 million hot dogs – not counting eating contests – and wash them with beer sales exceeding $ 190 billion.
Just for fun, I searched for the best song from July 4, 1976. According to the reference, it was either “Silly Love Songs” by Paul McCartney and Wings or “Love Hangover” by Diana Ross. I think the sequence is appropriate.
To illustrate how times have changed, on July 4, 1926, it was Paul Whiteman’s “Valenciaâ€.
As this releases, the CEO and I will be celebrating with my favorite son and favorite daughter-in-law. We will not add hot dogs and beer totals. They serve gourmet cuisine and fine wines.
So be careful remember my Uncle Lloyd and protect your little dog friends from loud noises.
[ad_2]
