As we get ready to celebrate our nation’s birth, we thought this would be a perfect time to share a little trivia about Independence Day and the early history of our country. Some of it might come as a surprise to you and it just might come in handy during your Fourth of July cookout or get-together. How well do you know your American history? Read on to find out.
A) America’s independence was actually declared by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on the fourth, as is indicated on the document itself, which is, one supposes, the cause for all the confusion. As one scholar has observed, what has happened is that the document announcing the event has overshadowed the event itself.
John Adams refused to acknowledge the Fourth of July as the nation’s Independence Day, firmly believing that July 2nd was the birth of our nation, and rejected all invitations to celebrate the Fourth of July.
Genuine independence was secured on September 3rd, 1783 with The Treaty of Paris in which Great Britainformally abandoned any claim to theUnited States.
B) “Yankee Doodle” is often thought of as a patriotic song. It’s even the state anthem of Connecticut. However, it was originally sung by British officers making fun of backwoods Americans. The Macaroni wig was an extreme fashion in the 1770s and became contemporary slang for foppishness. The implication of the verse was that the Yankees were so unsophisticated that they thought simply sticking a feather in a cap would make them the height of fashion.
After the tide began to turn during the War of Independence, Americans embraced the song and made it their own, turning it back on those who had used it to mock them.
C) The stars on the original American flag were arranged in a circle to ensure that all colonies were equal. The design of the flag has been officially modified 26 times since it was created in 1777.
D) In 1778, General George Washington marked July 4th with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute. Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans inParis,France.
E) Betsy Ross did not actually design the U. S. flag. That distinction belongs to Frances Hopkinson. He is also credited with designing theU.S.seal. We don’t know who sewed the first flag, but researchers doubt it was Ms. Ross. It’s a nice story though, created by her ancestors nearly a century later and kept going by grade school text books and a few historians who didn’t bother to check their facts.
F) The national anthem (The Star-Spangled Banner) is actually set to the tune of an old British drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven”. The lyrics come from the poem, “Defense of Fort McHenry” written in 1814 by a lawyer named Francis Scott Key. The song didn’t become the national anthem until March 3rd, 1931.
G) Our 2nd, 3rd and 5th Presidents (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe) all died on the Fourth of July. The 4th President, James Madison, missed dying on Independence Day by just a few days (June 28th). Adams and Jefferson both died on July 4th, 1826 as the nation celebrated the Jubilee of Freedom event (50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence). Coincidentally, Adams and Jefferson were the only Declaration signers to be elected as Presidents.
H) Calvin Coolidge is the only President to be born on the Fourth of July.
I) Benjamin Franklin proposed the wild turkey as the national bird, but was overruled by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who wanted the bald eagle. Regarding the bald eagle, Franklin wrote: “… he is a bird of bad moral character, he does not get his living honestly… Besides he is a rank coward; the little king bird, not bigger than a sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district.”
J) The first Fourth of July party held at the White House was in 1801 while John Adams was President.
K) Before automobiles became the preferred method of travel, Independence Day was the worst time of the year for horses. The poor animals were harassed by loud noises and unruly children threw firecrackers at them.
L) The Fourth of July is one of the few federal holidays that have not been moved to the nearest Friday or Monday.
M) Each year, the U. S. spends more than $200 million importing fireworks from China.
N) Sadly, the majority of our nation’s flags and patriotic paraphernalia in relation to the Fourth of July are actually made in China and Mexico, not theU.S.
O) The famous Fourth of July event, Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, started back in 1916. It was supposedly started as a way to settle a dispute among four immigrants as to who was the most patriotic.
P) Samuel Wilson was a meat packer who provided food forU.S.soldiers in the early 1800′s. He stamped the initialsU.S.on his packaged products and supposedly some soldiers began to joke that it stood for Uncle Sam, giving way to the symbolic “Uncle Sam” of the United States government.
Captivation Media hopes everyone enjoys our nation’s Independence Day. We’re proud to be Americans. And we’re proud to call all of you our friends.
Be safe and have a happy Fourth!
