So 4^th of July will be the topic of discussion across the country this week- not what it means, but what you are doing to celebrate, what kind of fireworks you’ll be watching, and what kind of cookout you’ll be attending. Sunday the 4^th of July will be a day of relaxation and beer drinking, a day of fireworks and baseball, and hopefully a world cup game. What it will not be is a day when people really reflect o n what the 4^th of July means. I do that, and there are a few things that strike me as rather strange or questionable about this venerated holiday.

1. The date. The 4^th of July is ostensibly a celebration of the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I’ll get to that document in a second, but suffice it to say that most of the people who signed the Declaration of Independence did not sign it on the 4^th. Most of them on the 5^th, and some a long time later. The 4^th is a bit of a random grabl.
2. The Purpose. Ask most people what that is and they will give you some vague reference to “Freedom of Speech” or maybe “Four score and seven years ago…” or something. You get my point. Nobody thinks about what the Declaration of Independence was for or from. It was a collection of farmers and rich landowners telling England where to stuff it. They declared that they (America) was independent of British rule. It is very different from the Bill of Rights or the Constitution, both of which came much later. While the DofI set the stage for those, it’s not really about freedom within America as it is to say to England that we are not listening to you or paying you taxes anymore. Ok?
3. The Fireworks. You can surmise from the fireworks that we are thinking about battles and celebrating or at least giving a shout out to the bombs that the U.S. launched at the England’s soldiers during the war. But there was no war going on when they signed the Declaration of Independence. They could have forseen that there will be a war, but it doesn’t quite fit in the end.
4. The Celebration. When people get together, they usually get together with family and/or friends to have a cookout and enjoy the summer air. This has to be one of the more conformist kind of things to do- not independent at all, so really missing the point. And then there’s all the taxes you pay on everything you buy for the celebration- the kinds of taxes that were exactly what the colonists were trying to get out of paying to someone else.
5. The Month. I have to say it’s pretty funny that the month we celebrate our independence in is named after Julius Cesar, one of the great rulers of Rome who built an empire taking over other countries. Just saying.

Photo Credit: ladybugbkt