Common Sense

In a letter dated July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote of the previous day:

“But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.- I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by Solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfire and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

As with everything else, Adams was wrong and we don’t celebrate that day at all. Instead, we celebrate the day of the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which was more of a formality really. The larger question was decided on July 2nd, and it was that the colonists and the Congress had decided on breaking with Great Britain. It was a huge decision, one that literally changed the world.

To the colonists, the idea was not so new. They had been selecting their own representatives and living with some autonomy for some time. Most of the men at the Continental Congress had served in state houses or in other capacities before. But the idea that if people were unsatisfied with their government, that they could simply overthrow it and start one that made the people more happy was, well, revolutionary.

Of course, it was easier said than done. Britain was the most formidable military force in the world. They conquered the world and controlled the seas. But we were determined to lead an insurgency and overcome against all odds to secure our own freedom.

Our only hope to win this revolution was to go to England’s archenemy, France, and hope for military and financial support. We went to world’s most absolutist monarchy for help in our republican uprising in overthrowing another monarchy. All we had was Benjamin Franklin’s flirting and the French’s centuries-old hatred of the English.

There was another thing. One person said at the time that the Revolution was more popular in the cafes of Paris than in the colonies themselves. It was true. France was split into two classes: the very, very rich and the gut-wrenchingly poor. The poor were eating up Common Sense and The American Crisis by Thomas Paine and all this talk about freedom and equality was getting them all antsy. Long story short, after General Gates’ (really Benedict Arnold’s) victory at Saratoga in 1777, France signed on and committed themselves to war as our alllies. Skip ahead to 1789, France is bankrupt and several fraudulent fixes later, the people of France revolt, inspired by us only to end up giving their loyalty to an Emperor.

America won the war, of course, (or we would all be speaking English) and after a false start with the Articles of Confederation, we adopted the Constitution and we’ve had an enduring republic ever since. Sort of.

Fun aside, there is a quick test you can take at MSNBC to test your citizenship knowledge. It is practically the same test they give immigrants, only they don’t get multiple choice. I got 95%, only missing the one about the form for naturalization. But I think I should bonus points for knowing that John Paul Jones is the American naval commander that uttered the immortal words “I have not yet begun to fight,” and I named my blog after the pamphlet by Paine. See if you can best me.

On July 4th, 1776, as America committed itself to independence and John Hancock signed it (the other 56 signatures were added to press copies starting in August. Hancock signed the original, handwritten version that does not survive), King George III of Great Britain wrote in his diary:

“Nothing of importance happened today.”

As with everything else, George was wrong.