On This Date, 1826
Happy 4th of July everyone! Hopefully by the end of the day, everyone has all of their digits on both hands, and no one is missing a fur friend who may have run away from all the “bombs bursting in air.”
As a Dad, sure, I took advantage of holidays to have fun wherever my family awas, but I also wanted my daughters to learn that the holidays were more than just some leisurely time off. From Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to New Year’s Day, they may have had the day off from school, but I knew that some day, they would become adults, and more importantly, registered voters, it would be important that they understood history, that in most cases impact their lives today.
Though not officially a federal holiday until 1870, and became a paid federal holiday in 1941, the Continental Congress voted on July 2, 1776 voted for independence from England, and two days later, July 4th, representatives adopted the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson. There were disagreements when our “Independence Day” actually should have been celebrated, but the date became July 4th.
Much has been made about why pilgrims came to America, escaping from religious control, but freedom from/of religion was only a small part. Once settled in America, bigger issues came to front, such as realizing colonists were nothing more than a source to wealth to Great Brittain, not being considered their own citizens free of England, and the impositions of several laws, making it even more difficult for colonists, is what led to the Declaration of Independence.
That is basically the simplified nuts and bolts of July 4th. Obviously there is more to the historical importance, but each year, as we celebrate today, a majority of Americans forget how we got here, as evidenced with the continued conflation between “church and state”, with religious influence once again finding its way into determining the laws of the people. There are reasons there needs to be this separation, and that is one of the reasons colonists fled England.
But one of the few unrealized significances of this date occurred fifty years later, exactly. On July 4th, 1826, both founding fathers of the Declaration of Independence and former presidents, John Adams – 90 years old (#2 – Federalist) and Thomas Jefferson – 83 years old (#3 – Democratic-Republican) died within hours of each other. Some claim this was a coincidence, some claim “divine intervention.” Really, how freaky is that two presidents, founding fathers would not only die on the same day, but on the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but also, the 50th anniversary of that signing. Some believe, and if you have ever witnessed the passing of a loved one, that both held on as long as the could, their desire to reach that specific date, and once reached, felt they could “leave.” Adams and Jefferson were friends, became adversaries, and in the end, were once again friends. Their passings on the same day, could not have been more appropriate.
Of course, we would not be Americans if some sort of conspiracy was not mentioned. Such as relatives and others giving experimental medications to the presidents to buy a short amount of time for them to reach the date, or worse, euthanasia once the date was reached. And no, “Paul’s Heart” is not promoting this conspiracy or any conspiracy. Just repeating what can be read on History.com.
There is a movement today, like no other, to forget our history. It was bad enough that teachers were being forced in this direction years ago. But now we have people running for office, even the highest of offices, the President of The United States, pushing that same agenda. Once again, religious decisions are being pushed onto citizens, and rights that have been in existence since before I was born, are now being taken away. Our history tells us what we fled from. Our ignorance to learn or teach our history, is causing us to repeat, or return to the conditions or forefathers did not accept.
So as we make today all about fun, the beach, picnics, concerts, hot dogs and apple pie, and of course fireworks, let’s try to remember, July 4th is a really big deal, something we should never forget. Thirteen years later, the backbone of our country, the Constitution of the United States was written. And though many amendments needed to be added, the preamble or introduction made it clear, our country was not perfect, though we strove to be so, and we would have to work hard to not only get there, but keep it, all based on one statement, and I am quoting from https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/ ,
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Do you see it? “We the people.” That is us. We want justice, peace, protection, well-being (similar to happiness), liberty, and prosperity. I know when I was in elementary school, some fifty years ago, learning the history that was taught back then, the accurate history, not what is being taught to be scorned today, our country was on that path to building that more perfect union. I am hoping that we can get back on that path again some day.
Paul's Heart 