So the big question anyone back home who thought about me today, here in the land of the one-time masters of North America, likely is "does anyone in England celebrate the Fourth of July?"
Well, I don't think anyone shoots off fireworks on the beach in Sandgate just because it's the first Saturday of the first full month of summer. Unfortunately, my fiancée was a bit ill today and so my top priority was to take care of her and not find out for myself by way of gallivanting around Folkestone screaming God Bless America as I symbolically dunk tea in the harbour and hold a moment of silence in memory of the brief political career of Sarah Palin.
So in lieu of wearing my Missouri state flag T-shirt out on the town today, I'm instead posting four interesting facts about the Fourth of July on this, the Fourth of July.
1. The Fourth of July was not the actual date when America declared its independence.Today marks the date in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress formally adopted the exact wording of the Declaration of Independence, famously penned by Thomas Jefferson. However, the Congress agreed to declare its independence from Great Britain on July 2, in closed session. In one of his
many letters to his wife Abagail, John Adams predicted that fireworks, games, parades, and so on throughout the land in celebration of America's independence. Only he saw it happening on the second of July, not the fourth.
More interesting, while the wording of the declaration was adopted on the fourth, the majority of the Congress didn't even sign the Declaration until August 2. And the man whom Americans no longer wished to have as their ruler, King George III, received the formal text from the Colonies until the end of August 1776.
2. The American Colonies rebelled from a Christian nation.Yes, you read right. The United States, a land where a sizeable majority of people polled say they practice Christianity or another religion, formed from the original Thirteen Colonies, rebelled from the leader of a Christian denomination. The full title of George III was:
“George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and so forth”The title “Defender of the Faith” is conferred on the British Monarch by Parliament to indicate the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. As such, each monarch since Elizabeth I, plus the Cromwells during the interregnum of the 1650s, has been the church's figurehead. Thus, the Monarch must formally confirm the appointment of church leaders (as suggested by church officials to the Prime Minister, who then makes the appointments to the Monarch), including the highest appointment: Primate of All England and Archbishop of Canterbury.
Therefore, America, our “One Nation Under God”, rebelled from a nation lead by the leader of a significant Christian denomination, and didn't confer a religious title on the Presidency or Speaker of the House. But like the typical free-market advocates, Americans banded together regardless of religion: Anglicans, Baptists, Buddhists, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Secular Humanists, etc. etc. to set up a great nation where the executive branch doesn't need an associated institution of religion established by law.
3. Although the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, fourteen states were never under British control.Every state east of the Mississippi River, with exception to Florida, was part of the original land of the United States. Florida, however, was under British control for 20 years, gaining it from Spain in 1763 but ceding it 20 years later. Spanish ceded control of Florida in 1812. The southern tips of Alabama and Mississippi, plus much of Louisiana, were ceded in 1819.
A treaty in 1818 established a simple border between the United States and Britain's North American holdings west of the Great Lakes at the 49th parallel. As a result, lands in North Dakota and South Dakota east of the Missouri River, plus another portion of Minnesota, were ceded to the States from Britain. The 49th parallel boundary was extended to the Juan de Fuca Strait in 1846, with Britain dropping its claims to the Columbia Territory (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Wyoming and Montana).
Alaska's southeast peninsula was leased by the Russians to the British for 30 years, with the lease not transferring over when Seward's purchase occurred in 1867. So who does that leave?
Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.
The 14 states listed were, at one point or another, either under French or Spanish control prior to becoming ultimately part of the United States. (It's possible that northernmost areas of California, Nevada and Utah were under British control. Mexico claimed their northern border from 1821 to 1848 as the 42nd parallel.) Despite Hawaii having the only state flag including a Union Jack, the islands were never under British control. While James Cook commanded the first European fleet to arrive at the islands, Hawaii's tribal chiefs were united by one independent kingdom rather than by way of European conquest.
So is there really a valid reason to celebrate the Fourth of July in these states that were never under control of George III? Would more valid dates here instead be May 2 (date of the Louisiana Purchase, 1803), March 2 (Texas' declaration of independence from Mexico, 1836), December 29 (date of Texas' annexation into the U.S., 1845), March 10 (Mexican cessation per Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848), or July 7 (Hawaii's annexation, 1898)?
4. 43 additional nations have national holidays celebrating their independence from Great Britain.Of those 43 nations, 34 are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, formally named the British Commonwealth. Despite 38 declaring their independence during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, eight still recognise her as their head of state.
None of these nations had their Declarations of Independence promulgated on July 4, or July 2, or August 2.
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