Is It the Fourth?

[georginasand]

"The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation.  ~Woodrow Wilson

No, incidentally, it's not the fourth. But I am working at a summer camp in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains and haven't had time to write as much as I would like. And it's still July, so I don't consider myself obscenely tardy.

I have probably already mentioned this, but I am working as a sailing counselor at a summer camp for two months. I went to this camp for seven years, and my mother was a camper for many many years, so campfire smoke and rhododendron are in my blood. This camp, as evidenced by out song book, must have been little-hippie central in the sixties and seventies. If there is an anti-war protest song it is in our song book. And after an only slightly painful rendition of”The Star-Spangled Banner," we sang every one of them on the Fourth of July.

And on that note, I'd like to point something out: The signing of the Declaration of Independence was the beginning of a war, not the end of one. It was the beginning, in fact, of a very long, very bloody, and at time both very cold and very hot. It was an awful, albeit arguably necessary, war that was incredibly expensive in both lives and funds for, not two, but four countries. There is not a song by Peter, Paul and Mary that can begin to describe it. And if we wanted a holiday that celebrated peace, love and unending happiness, there are a lot to choose from: October 19 the day Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown or even September 3 the day the Treaty of Paris was signed.  January 14, November 25 are all dates associated with the end of the war, the beginning of the United States of American with the added bonus of being events Simon and Garfunkle would be willing to celebrate?

But they aren't the days we celebrate, and I think that is very significant.

It means that Independence was real for us (or for the US) before it was real abroad. We had convinced and united ourselves and that's what made independence real. There is no doubt that there was a war to fight; that we had to prove our Independence, but it also means that this "United We Stand/Divided We Fall" jazz has more gravity that just bumper sticker fodder. We celebrate Washington and Hancock and Jefferson on the 4th because they are obvious heroes. But without John Dickinson's (delegate from Pennsylvania, Quaker and wouldn't vote for action that would cause a war) absence or New York’s (had not yet received orders from the colonial legislature to vote aye) abstention there is nothing in the wide world Hancock, Adams, and Jefferson could have done towards a unanimous vote short of homicide (we may see murder, yet.) And by celebrating our Independence on the 4th of July rather than the 19th of October or the 3rd of September, we celebrate their actions to Independence, if not for it. (Note: John Dickinson will fight in the Continental Army and then write the Pennsylvania plan for the Constitutional Convention).

I think was our ability of ours to recognize Independence within ourselves, whether we supported it or not, that saved us much of the trouble that Latin America and Africa are seeing as they fight ongoing wars of independence. Although the war was bloody, costly, and one we were largely not prepared for, we were united, had a hierarchy and government in place. We "hung together" and were prepared for a victory. Independence already existed and that independence we celebrate on the Fourth.

However, it ought to be noted in the midst of the pomp and parade of the 4tht of July, that a war, several depending on who you asked, were fought to prove that Independence. And the plethora of dates I listed earlier indicates that Independence is not instantaneous.  Benjamin Rush, who is consistently one of my favorite Founding Fathers in the history of fathers founding things, wrote of independence as "The Republican experiment". Declaring Independence did not equate with Independence existing, which did not guarantee the survival of the union (as Jefferson Davis was so kind to demonstrate). And the survival of the nation thus far (233 years) does not guarantee our existence tomorrow or for eternity. (What have we got that the Mayans and the Romans didn't?)

The experiment is still playing out; every decade is a new trial with new variables and we are continually declaring our Independence.

I remain,
Georgie

Comments

[pineapplechild]

Several excellent points.

[georginasand]

Thanks. The ideas are still a little garbled, but I find it fascinating that we celebrate the beginning of a struggle not the end of it.

[merrycaepa]

I love it when you write this stuff - reading the little snippets you used to (and presumably still do, but I haven't been around lately) bring up in casual conversation (and briefly bring said conversation to a halt as we did the initial "who is this person and what is she saying?" double-take).