July 4th is a world-renowned date celebrating America’s independence from Great Britain. But there are some details about the prestigious date that are often go unrecognized by many people. The date has been celebrated as America’s Independence Day since 1776, however some noteworthy American dignitaries of the time actually expected the day of celebration to be held 2 days earlier. Historically, the day in which the Continental Congress actually voted in favor of independence was actually July 2, 1776; two days later on July 4th, delegates from the original 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence. But the history goes much deeper than that.
When the initial battles of the Revolutionary war broke out in April, 1775, public sentiment was somewhat opposed to gaining complete independence from Britain (it is said that proponents of independence at the time were actually considered radicals—the notion of revolutionary violence was not very highly desired by colonists at the time). However by the same time the following year, the notion of independence from British rule had gained a significant amount of sentiment among the colonists. This sentiment was aided primarily by the growing hostility toward Britain, beginning with the riot-provoking Stamp Act of 1765 and the Boston Tea Party of 1773. By the time the infamous “shot heard ‘round the world” occurred in 1775 signalling the beginning of the American War for Independence, the tide of hostility toward the British had been slowly gaining momentum. But once the War for Independence had officially started, that tide of hostility grew from a trickle into an avalanche. Once the Declaration of Independence had been signed, a new American identity had been born. This American identity has since fueled ambition in every American undertaking from the following War of 1812 against Britain and British-loyal colonists, the patriotic and valiant efforts expressed in World Wars I & II, varied pushes for democratic liberty across Central and South America and the Middle East, and its influence on every facet of global culture has been stark and impossible to dismiss.
On this day, July 4, 2020, we celebrate 244 years of American independence, defiance against foreign oppression and the ubiquity of American cultural influence on the planet at large. Cheers to the land of the free and the home of the brave!