Bicentennial Festivities and Modern Legacy

Few dates carry as much significant in the United States as july fourth, but the celebration of the date has evolved over time july fourth,venteen seventy six was not a day of celebration across the country as nobody outside of Philadelphia knew what had happened But just one year later, it was being celebrated and has been ever since for a quarter of a millennium Learn more about the history of the celebration of the Fourth of July on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily This episode is sponsored by Mint Mobile. There are things in life that you do not want to be transparent, like your swimsuit or your search history. But when it comes to your wireless bill, transparency is everything. That's why MintMobil's wireless plans have no gimmicks and no gches J high speed data and reliable coverage on the TMobile five G network. And right now, all plans are fifteen dollars a month, even the unlimited plan. 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That's QuInCE dot com slash daily for free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Qince. com slash daily The first fourth of July in seventeen seventy six wasn't celebrated at all While Jefferson had written the Declaration of Independence by late June, the Second Continental Congress still needed to pass Richard Henry Lee's Rolution of Independence, which was passed on july second. As I covered in a previous episode, the vote on the Resolution of Iependence by the Continental Congress can be considered the date on which independence was actually declared The language of the Declaration of Independence was finalized in the late afternoon of july fourth, seventeen seventy six. After a consensus was reached, it needed to be printed at John Dunlap's print shop and distributed across the colonies. It was first read in Philadelphia, then in New York on july ninth and in Boston on july eighteenth It didn't reach Virginia until late July and southern colonies until August. When it was read aloud in the summer of seventeen seventy six, it was met with roaring approval in celebration After it was read in New York City, the crowd was so enthusiastic that they marched to a nearby two ton statue of King George III, pulled it down, and had it melted into more than forty thousand units of ammunition for the war effort Full on celebrations of the fourourth of July would have to wait until seventeen seventy seven, when the holiday was commemorated as a day of remembrance. The reason july fourth was celebrated as july second is That was the date that was on the document that everybody read This holiday was much more somber than its modern incarnations, as the Revolutionary War was still in full swing The Philadelphia Eing Post reported on the day's proceedings, which included a ringing of the city's bells and a thirteen gun salute at a time of powder shortage They noted quote Yesterday, the fourth of July, being the anniversary of the independence of the United States of America, was celebrated in this city with demonstrations of joy and festivity E quote The Massachusetts state legislature officially recognized the day as a state holiday in seventeen eighty one Legislation called for public rejoicing, a bold move as the revolutionary War still wasn't over. Rejoicing in seventeen eighty one meant local ministers reading the Delaration to their parishes, prayer, a feast among friends, and bonfires, as gunpowder at the time couldn't be spared The holidays's importance grew significantly after the war ended and George Washington became president The day was often marked by speeches amplifying the virtues of American democracy Parides became a F fourth of July tradition, serving as a visual representation of the nation's struggle and highlighting veteran sacrifice The early politics of the Republic were quite acrimonious with politicians attacking one another with a ferocity that would make modern politicians blush The tension was so great that violence nearly erupted at competing events in New York in the wake of the widely condemned J Treaty during the festivities in the summer of seventeen ninety five As the nation migrated to a system based on political parties, the very factions that George Washington had warned Americans about in his seventeen ninety six Farewell address, had compromised the unity of the fourourth of July In the wake of Washington's retirement, these competing factions held separate celebrations. Historian Michael Hatton highlighted the differences between the competing festivals, noting quote, For the Democratic Republicans, especially in the North, the parades would heavily feature artisans and workers because they saw themselves as the more popular less elitist partarty Processions in federalist controlled areas would often have been organized in a much more hierarchical fashion and led by the most important people in town. E quote The War of eighteen twelve had significant implications for the commemoration of the Fourth of July. The outbreak of the War of eighteen twelve fueled a new wave of nationalism that cemented the holiday in American identity and strengthened unity The war also changed how the event was commemorated. Before the War of eighteen twelve, cannons and guns were fired in salute on the fourth of July. As they did during the Revolutionary War, local officials aimed to conserve gunpowder Instead of firing heavy artillery, they asked citizens to place candles in their windows for a quiet public illumination For a public spectacle, they would detonate lower grade gunpowder packed into a tube with refuse iron fillings, which when ignited, shot a brief, brilliant shower of golden sparks into the sky The W of eighteen twelve also provided the soundtrack of the holiday The attack on Fort McHenry, chronicled by Francis Scott Key and the Star Spankled Banner, became a vital part of the nation's identity A particularly somber fourth of July occurred in eighteen twenty six when both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day, which also coincidentally was the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence The two men had fallen out of friendship after the eighteen hundred election, only to reunite decades later A generation later, the national trauma of the Civil War interrupted the holiday's impact During the conflict, Confederate newspapers urged their readers to ignore the holiday. Stores stayed open, parades were cancellled, and there were no fireworks. At its core, the fourourth of July is a holiday about the creation of America, the union of thirteen colonies into a single repepublic, and that ran antithetical to the secession of the Confederacy In eighteen sixty three, two of the most significant Union victories of the Civil War converged on the fourth of July On the morning of july fourth, word spread that the Union arrmy had just repelled Robert E. Lee's advance into the north at Gettysburg the day before. Simultaneously down south, General Ulysses S. Grant took total control of the Mississippi River, as the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi officially surrendered, severing the Confederacy in The grueling forty seven day siege of Vicksburg was such a devastating blow that the local citizens refused to celebrate the fourourth of July for the next eighty one years Believe it or not, it wasn't until after the Civil War in eighteen seventy that the fourourth of July was finally declared an official federal holiday America's centennial celebration in eighteen seventy six provided an opportunity to turn the page and reclaim the unity that was central to the holiday President Grant offered his vision in calling for, quote, a day of reflection and gratitude The centennial celebration coincided with the end of post Civil War Reconstruction, a period marked by division intention Reconstruction had not solved the challenges in integrating former slaves into the United States despite the passage of constitutional amendments to advance their citizenship. Violence was breaking out across the south, including the Hamburg Massacre, which broke out in South Carolina over a july fourth parade The real story of the centennial celebration emerged that summer as Philadelphia hosted the World's Fair, called the Centennial Exosition. The fair captivated more than ten million people, and the organizers hoped to show a United States that had put the Civil War behind it Visitors ret treated to innovations like The Typewriter, Heinz Ketchup, the Telephone, and the mighty Corless Steam engine One of the most spectacular aspects of the centennial exposition was the debut of the Statue of Liberty's Right Arm and Trch, which was scheduled to arrive in time for the holiday, but was delayed until later in the summer. Faregoers could climb inside the torch for a fee with proceeds helping to cover the cost of the statue's massive base Yet, amid all the glittering splendor of the centennial exposition, the World's Fair had one definitive impact on the celebration of the fourourth of July It transformed it into a truly national event During the eighteen seventy six centennial, the nation's attention turned squarely to Philadelphia, which hosted a grand Jubilee. At the stroke of midnight, the city, which was already known for its famous bells, debuted the centennial Bell, drawing tens of thousands of spectators into the street But organizers weren't done yet Amidst the roaring train whistles and fireworks, they staged two symbolic gestures explicitly engineered to promote national unity To visually display the healing of a fractured country, Pennsylvania goovernor and union veteran John Hart Raft stepped onto the stage to shake hands with Virginia Governor James Kemper a man who had been wounded fighting for the Confederacy at Gettysburg. The famous handshake was met with an enthusiastic response from the crowd Moments later, the grandson, of founding father, Richard Henry Lee, stepped forward to unroll and read the actual original parchment of the Declaration of Independence Lee's reading marked the last time that the document would ever leave Washington, DC A century later, the nineteen seventy six bicentennial was filled with exciting events that attracted national attention Unlike in eighteen seventy six, this celebration could truly be national thanks to television In New York City, the nation's birthday was celebrated by Operation Sle It was a tall ship gala that brought sixteen historic tall ships up the Hudson River as an estimated six million people watched them sail past the Statue of Liberty famed journalist Walter Kronkite summed up the power of Operations Sle when he said it was, quote, the grandest birthday party in the history of the world The Bicentennial Commission of Pennsylvania pulled off the bicentennial wagon train. The wagon train was a group of thousands of covered wagons crossing the country from west to east As historian Mark Stein noted, it was, quote, manifest destiny in reverse The wagons, organized and run by volunteers, even tried to stick to historic westward migration routes whenever possible as they converged on Valley Forge on july third. with a festival planned for the fourth Ross Rowland Junr., a train enthusiast and successful commodities broker, thought it would be fitting to honor America's bicentennial with the Freedom Train The train was a traveling museum of American artacts, including George Washington's copy of the Constitution, that toured the forty eight contiguous states for nearly two years Those who were children during the bicentennial undoubtedly remember the wildly popular ABC educational series Schoolhouse Rock, which was rebranded for the bicentennial as America Rock America Rock briefly abandoned the clever three minute spots on grammar and math and replaced them with patriotic videos of American history With features focusing on Battles of the Revolution, the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence, America Rock brought the bicentennial directly to children The United States government also fueled the celebration by creating commemorative pieces that instantly became collector' items. Leading the charge, the US Postal Service delighted stamp collectors as it celebrated the bicentennial by printing more than one hundred individual commemorative stamps as part of its historic American bicentennial series. Not to be outdone, the US Mint ran a nationwide design competition to redesign the reverse sides of three specific denominations quarter, the half dollar, and the one dollar coin. The winning designs featured a dual date seventeen seventy six, nineteen seventy six These new issues celebrated the nation's milestone by featuring a colonial drummer boy, Independence haall, and the Liberty Bell resting on the moon. Coins remain incredibly common as the mint produced more than one point six billion quarters The coins and stamps allowed everybody to take part in the festivities, even if you couldn't get to New York for operation sale, or the wagon train didn't come through your town It was nearly impossible to drive down any street in America without spotting American flags on every front porch as the bicentennial inspired a massive wave of national unity and patriotism. But the event was not without critics. Critics pann the Bi centennial as the B BY centennial, as corporations capitalized on the patriotic enthusiasm by branding nearly every product, from t shirts to soda cans to the famed Pooland red, white and blue Spirit of seventy six commemorative chainsaw As America celebrates its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, or it's semi quincentennial, a term that doesn't really fall off the tongue We will be celebrating in many of the same ways that we have in the past There are efforts by corporations to brand products with patriotic symbols and flags, and there will certainly be fireworks in nearly every municipality in the country, not to mention the private pyrotechnics which form the backbone of the multib billion dollar fireworks industry The Washington Mall is expected to host a world record fireworks display this july fourth, featuring a forty minute show with an estimated eight hundred fifty one thousand fireworks And if you're around fifty years from now, you might get to enjoy the tricentennial which will probably involve robots and a spaceship parade on the moon