Thoughts about the Fourth of July
This is one of my favorite holidays. I love that it is summer. I love the parades, fireworks, picnics. But I am particularly pleased with what the holiday represents. FREEDOM! Our Founding Fathers worked and suffered long and hard to bring this to us. The men and women who are our forebears made great sacrifices for us. The American Revolution made us a country. The War of 1812 forged us as a nation. It is the War which cemented us together as THESE United States and made us a true country rather than separate states loosely joined together as individual entities. The American Civil War or War Between the States brought us together to become one nation indivisible. Other wars fought for various reasons always had freedom from tyranny in mind. For Independence Day, the first two are the most memorial and appropriate for our celebrations for our country’s independence.
Trivia question #1: Each state has a star. When is the star added to the flag for a new state?
Did you know that each star in its placement is a specific state? For instance, the first star on the left hand top row is always Delaware (the first state). The next New Jersey, then Pennsylvania, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, and so forth. This works only when the stars are placed in rows. I am not sure how it works if the stars are placed in designs other than rows (for instance, there is a “round” placement of the thirty-five star flag as well as the one in which rows are the standard). Can someone help me on this?
Trivia #2: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were both Vice Presidents and then Presidents. They had been members of the Continental Congresses together, but there politics were quite different…Adams, a Federalist, wanted a stronger Federal government (but I am certain that he would cringe today at its power) and Jefferson, a Democrat-Republican, wanted strong rights for the people (he would realllly cringe at today’s politics). They were friends/adversaries/ competitors. How does July 4 finally bring the two together after holding the office of President?
Trivia #3. Francis Scott Key, a young lawyer from Baltimore, wrote a poem entitled The Star Spangled Banner while being held on a ship by the British off Baltimore in the summer of 1814. Describe the flag at which he saw in “dawn’s early light.”
Silly question: What do they call the United States Independence Day in England?
All answers at the end of this posting.
Some of my most memorable Fourth of July celebrations came from traditionally means.
We often celebrated with camping or picnics with friends at Highland Lake in Connecticut.
One year Steve and I went camping at Schroon Lake in New York. We did some canoeing, went to a local church chicken barbecue, watched the local parade, and saw a wonderful display of fireworks.
Another year (after The Magic Kingdom and EPCOT had opened, but before any other parts of Disney had been completed), we went in and watched fireworks from a hill in which we could see much of the spectacular displays from the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT and Lake Buena Vista (now expanded and called Downtown Disney). Somehow we did not pay for parking. We met and talked with many people from many places. Mosquitoes (and they were many) notwithstanding, it was a grand evening. Can’t do this any more!
I am kind of a vexologist (student of flags). We sell early American and various Confederate flags in our sutlery. Last year the local Masonic Lodge wanted to do something different with their local float. Now, in New England, a float decorated with early American flags would be fairly typical, but in rural Florida—not so much. So, Steve and I loaned (later donated) a whole lot of early American Flags. The Masons won third place for their float. We included the Bennington flag, a Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me!”, a Betsy Ross, Florida’s State Flag and a Thirty-Five Star (the flag used through a portion of the Civil War for the Union—also used for the Union during this war were 33 star and 34 star). It was so cool to see “our” flags on display.
Probably the most memorable celebration of the 4th, however, was the year that Steve worked with the 9th Massachusetts Light Artillery, Battery B Civil War re.enacting crew. They own two cannon—a small mountain howitzer and a full-sized brass large one (can’t remember the actual size or type, sorry). They were to participate in the City of Westfield, Massachusetts celebration. As with tradition, the 1812 Overture was planned with appropriate booms. Murphy’s Law decided to show his ugly head, however. The crew was ready. Don-tee, don-tee don-tee, don-tee, dont, dont—fizzz. No boom! The cannon misfired! During the course of the Overture, the crew managed to get twenty-nine of the thirty-three shots off—four misfires (not really too bad for an old cannon trying to do rapid fire). But, of course the first one would/should have been the most dramatic and impressive. The crew was embarrassed, but I’m not sure that it was not really noticed by most of the audience. Before the music and fireworks, we had walked around and run into many acquaintances. Since I was vicariously part of the celebration, it became a great memory for me!
I LOVE THIS HOLIDAY! Independence and Freedom!
Trivia answers: #1. A star is added on the Fourth of July after its official date of joining the Union.
Two examples:
1. In 1959 Alaska became a state in the early months of that year. So, July 4, 1959 a new star was added giving us a forty-nine star flag. Later in the year, Hawaii became official in its statehood. Her star was added on July 4, 1960, making our current flag of fifty stars the flag that has been our official flag for the longest time period of any of the previous flags.
2. The thirty-three star flag was the official flag on the date of the firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in April of 1861. Kansas already had become the thirty-fourth state, but did not get her star until July 4, 1861.
TA #2. They both died July 4, 1826 a few hours apart—Jefferson first and later in the day--Adams. The friends closed an era of the founding fathers on the same day. Until Ronald Reagan, Adams had been the oldest President on the date of his death.
TA #3. This flag had fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, starting with red on the top. Vermont and Kentucky had joined the union. This was the only official United States flag that had more than thirteen stripes. After the War of 1812 a Congressional resolution not only set the date of July 4th for adding a new star, but it also set the number of stripes as thirteen to symbolize the original states. It was agreed that it would be too cumbersome to add a stripe for each new state. A new star in the field of blue would become the norm. And they knew there would be many more states. Because of the Northwest Territories (states that had or would become the states of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, etc.) and the Louisiana Purchase (so many states would come from this), practicality reigned in the new design. The actual flag that Attorney Key saw was 30’ X 42’. It had been hand sown by Mary Young Pickersgill and her thirteen year old daughter, Caroline. Major George Armistead, commander of the fort and of the same family as the future Confederate Civil War General L. Armistead, wanted the flag “so large that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance.” The poem was put to the music of a British drinking song some time in the future and became our National Anthem in 1931
SA: Why, the Fourth of July, of course!
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