signing the Declaration of independence
Hello e-friends. I just got back from an awesome cookout at my friend KC’s house. He always throws a smashing gig – even the hotdogs were gourmet! He’s uber-patriotic geek like me, so each hamburger and hotdog was garnished with a tiny little American Flag. Guess we’re just practicing for the big day – July 4th , our Independence Day – LOL. That’s when we’ll have the real party. In fact, I’ve already found a red, white and blue silk dress that makes me want to belt out ‘The Star Spangled Banner’, so watch out Christina Aguilera – LOL (it’s ok mom – Macy’s was having a sale!).
So those little U.S. flag embellishments lent themselves to some very interesting conversation. It started with a discussion about that new HBO mini-series, John Adams – have you seen it? (so rad!) I just love Paul Giamatti – he was also fabuloso in Sideways. Oh, but I’m digressing. So, anyway, everyone started talking about the episode when they wrote The Declaration of Independence (that one gives me goose bumps!) and that led to a discussion of how our forefathers must have felt – the angst, the toil over every word. Can you imagine?
And that’s when KC said: “Do you think they really were splitting hairs over the word ‘self-evident’”? Hmm. Good question KC! I don’t know the answer to that, but I can give you the skinny on the exciting series of events that lead up to that historical day whenThe Declaration was written (and, as all my friends at the cookout can attest, I’m happy to do this).
Back in the late 18th century (when men wore wigs – now that’s funny – LOL!), what is now the United States was made up of 13 colonies. They were: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York (well duh!), New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
The citizens of these colonies weren’t exactly happy at this time. That’s because they were still under the control of the British Crown and King George III, who taxed them but yet they didn’t have any representation in the British Parliament (this is where the phrase‘Taxation without Representation’ comes from). Yeah, I think I’d be a bit huffy about that too. So even though George was a typical tyrant, he wasn’t stupid, so he increased the number of troops in the colonies in hopes of squashing any rebellion that might come about.
Well, that was lighting a match. In 1774, representatives from the colonies formed theFirst Continental Congress and although everyone was pretty unsettled, they weren’t ready to declare independence from Britain. Well, as you might imagine, it was the recipe for the perfect storm. Tensions increased and, in 1775, scattered scuffles and fighting gave way to a terrible battle at Lexington and Concord.
In 1775, less than a month after the battle, The Second Continental Congressconvened. The battles continued – Fort Ticonderoga , Bunker Hill, and all the while, the Congress acted as the de facto government by organizing troops and dictating strategy. I would just like to interject at this point, that if I could have anything, anything I wanted in the world, it would be a collection of flags from this period of history. To hold the fabric, the evolution of Old Glory in my hands would be beyond compare. I would trade 100 Coach bags and 10 pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes for this chance.
By 1776, the representatives of the congress were united and the colonies were ready for Independence. And we became the United States and the most important document in our national history was drafted by Thomas Jefferson (who is very cute in the HBO miniseries BTW) – The Declaration of Independence. If you haven’t read it in a while, you should – it really is poetry. Here is a linkhttp://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm and a very powerful excerpt.
“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The American Revolutionary War did not end until the Treaty of Paris in 1783, when the sovereignty of the United States of America was officially recognized. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Wow, I am wiping away a tear. And I think I need another hot dog (good thing I brought home a doggie bag ). So e-friends, have a great week in the “land of the free and the home of the brave”.
Lexi
