|
July fourth is
Independence Day in the United States, a day when Americans commemorate
the signing, in 1776, of the Declaration of Independence, a document that
formally severed political ties with Britain, then America's colonial
ruler.
"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."
Those words, written by a 33 year-old activist
named Thomas Jefferson and published by the Continental Congress on July
4th, 1776, are but a few the significant phrases in America's Declaration
of Independence. Barnard College history professor Herbert Sloan reminds
us that it was neither a declaration of war nor even the beginning of
American independence from the British crown.
"The United States has actually acted
independently before the declaration.It's not as if we were waiting for
July 4, 1776 to act as an independent country. For the previous year and a
quarter or so, there had been an active civil war against the British
overlord going on," he says. " July 4, 1776 is
the moment when there is the official statement that there is no turning
back; If we say it is so, it will be so.It was an investment by those
who signed it to actually make good on the promise of independence and to
let the rest of the world know 'we're extremely serious about
this.'" we're not going to hope any more for a reconciliation."
And Americans ever since have been extremely serious about
freedom, says historian Eric Foner, of Columbia University, and the author
of The Story of American Freedom.
"Liberty and freedom have been rallying cries throughout our history,
whether it's 'a new birth of freedom' of Lincoln in the Civil War, or 'The
Four Freedoms' of Roosevelt in World War II," Foner says. "It's no
accident, that President Bush gave the name 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' to
the war in Iraq because somehow associating a military venture with the
ideal of freedom is a time-honored way of mobilizing popular support for
that effort."
Herbert Sloan notes that unlike many nations, the United States does
not link its origins to a military victory. In 1776, when independence was
declared, the British surrender was more than six years off.
He says that founding father "John Adams is famous
for saying it wasn't the military part that mattered but it was 'the
change,' as he put it, 'in the hearts and minds of Americans before 1775.
That was the real revolution.'"
While July 4th has been American freedom's symbolic anniversary since
its founding, the U.S. Congress did not make Independence Day a federal
holiday until 1870. By then, says Robert McDonald, a Jefferson scholar who
teaches at the United States Military Academy at West Point, the date had
already come to symbolize freedom in unanticipated ways.
"Henry David Thoreau walked out to Walden Pond and
set up camp on July 4, 1845. That was no coincidence," McDonald says. "He
was declaring his personal independence from the 'rat race' then going on.
And The Tuskegee Institute for the education of former slaves opened in
Alabama on July 4, 1881."
In the 19th century, July 4th was often a
day for patriotic and political speeches - some of them quite angry. Eric
Foner points to an 1852 address by the great African American orator and
ex-slave, Frederick Douglass entitled "The Meaning of July Fourth for the
Negro."
"In effect," says Foner, "Douglass said 'this day
is white America's day. To black people, July 4th is a symbol of American
hypocrisy
. You talk about freedom, and yet you hold over three million
Americans in slavery. What kind of freedom is this?'" Later on, the labor
movement would pick up the Declaration of Independence in the movement for
shorter hours or higher wages."
American Independence Day has
also been a powerful symbol abroad. For example, during the decolonization
of Asia and Africa following World War II, America was often praised as
the first nation to throw off the imperial yoke. Even Ho Chi Minh, the
communist leader, modeled Vietnam's 1945 Declaration of Independence on
the American one, declaring it to be, in effect, a justification for
revolution against the French occupation of his homeland.
But Robert McDonald likens July 4th to a sort of patriotic
Thanksgiving, best savored in a tranquil mode. "July 4th marks the
ratification of the document that celebrated not death and war, but life
and liberty and the pursuit of happiness," McDonald says.
"I think it's somewhat appropriate that
Americans gather together with family and friends and other members of the
community and shoot off fireworks and have backyard barbeques." Professor
McDonald suggests that that is what being a free person may really be all
about - celebrating life -- and giving thanks to all those who've
contributed to our freedom.
|
