# American Independence Day



## RadishRose (Jun 30, 2021)




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## RadishRose (Jun 30, 2021)

The Torch of Freedom​
_"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, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."_


- John Adams July 3, 1776


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## officerripley (Jun 30, 2021)




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## Aunt Bea (Jun 30, 2021)

Happy Birthday, America!


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## officerripley (Jun 30, 2021)




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## ohioboy (Jun 30, 2021)

I know some about the great Declaration. RR, in your post 2 referencing July 2nd, that was in a letter to Abigail Adams from John, a little premature. He was on the 5 man drafting committee, but Jefferson was the principal author as we all know. July 2nd was the date the Richard Henry Lee resolution was adopted, but the 4th was the date of the non public signing and presentment.

In my history tours, I've visited the Graves of 10 signers out of the 56.

The federal government's signed copy is in the National Archives, as I'm sure everyone knows. It is badly faded from years of past exposure to light and air. You can still make out John Hancock's signature though.

Of the about 200 Dunlap Broadsides printed, about 26 are known to exist. I don't know if you remember this or not, but about 25-30 years ago a man bought a picture for several $ at a garage sale/flea market. When he got home he took it out of the frame and behind it was a Dunlap Broadside. It was auctioned off for 1.4 million or such I think. What a piece of luck to have found and owned one.


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## RadishRose (Jun 30, 2021)

ohioboy said:


> In my history tours, I've visited the Graves of 10 signers out of the 56.





ohioboy said:


> You can still make out John Hancock's signature though.


That's awesome!

Yes, I knew about the dates and glad you posted the clarification for us. I don't recall about the find at the garage sale.Wow!


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## ohioboy (Jun 30, 2021)

RR, from Wikipedia, also it made national headlines:

In 1949, 14 copies of the Dunlap broadside were known to exist.[16] The number had increased to 21 by 1975.[19] There were 24 known copies of the Dunlap broadside in 1989, when a 25th broadside was discovered[20] behind a painting bought for four dollars at a flea market.


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## MarkinPhx (Jun 30, 2021)

Looking forward to watching Jaws. It has been a 4th of July tradition of mine for at least the past twenty years now


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## ohioboy (Jun 30, 2021)

RR, when I toured Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, there was an 1826 copy of the Declaration, the year he died.


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## RadishRose (Jun 30, 2021)

ohioboy said:


> RR, when I toured Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, there was an 1826 copy of the Declaration, the year he died.


Didn't he and Adams die the same day or was it one day apart? Wasn't it also July 4th?

I'm glad they made up before they died.

Wish I'd visited Monticello.


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## MarkinPhx (Jun 30, 2021)

RadishRose said:


> Didn't he and Adams die the same day or was it one day apart? Wasn't it also July 4th?
> 
> I'm glad they made up before they died.
> 
> Wish I'd visited Monticello.


They did die on the same day ! Monticello is amazing.


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## ohioboy (Jun 30, 2021)

RadishRose said:


> Didn't he and Adams die the same day or was it one day apart? Wasn't it also July 4th?
> 
> I'm glad they made up before they died.
> 
> Wish I'd visited Monticello.


Yea, both died on the 50th anniversary of the signing, July 4, 1826. When Adams died he said "Jefferson still lives", but he had in fact died a few hours earlier.


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## RadishRose (Jun 30, 2021)




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## ohioboy (Jun 30, 2021)

I have also visited the Adams' home Peacefield in Quincy, MA. They still had the couch type piece of furniture he died on. I also toured John and John Quincy's birth homes, called "Salt-box" houses, very close to each other. John and Q are buried in the same vault along with their wives. The only place in the U.S. where 2 President's and their wives are buried side by side. The church is private, but anyone can go to the basement where the Crypt's are, a donation was requested of $2.00 which I gladly paid.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6/john-adams


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## PamfromTx (Jun 30, 2021)




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## RadishRose (Jun 30, 2021)

ohioboy said:


> I have also visited the Adams' home Peacefield in Quincy, MA. They still had the couch type piece of furniture he died on. I also toured John and John Quincy's birth homes, called "Salt-box" houses, very close to each other. John and Q are buried in the same vault along with their wives. The only place in the U.S. where 2 President's and their wives are buried side by side. The church is private, but anyone can go to the basement where the Crypt's are, a donation was requested of $2.00 which I gladly paid.
> 
> https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6/john-adams


You sure get around, OB. Good for you!
One Adams saltbox home.There's a few old ones left in CT,too.


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## ohioboy (Jun 30, 2021)

RadishRose said:


> You sure get around, OB. Good for you!
> One Adams saltbox home.There's a few old ones left in CT,too.


Yep, been there, really enjoyed both. I don't have a scanner thingy or I'd post some of my pictures.


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## JustBonee (Jul 2, 2021)




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## Meanderer (Jul 2, 2021)




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## JustBonee (Jul 2, 2021)

(just blueberries, strawberries & bananas)


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## debodun (Jul 2, 2021)




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## Pink Biz (Jul 2, 2021)

*

*


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## Murrmurr (Jul 2, 2021)

Bonnie said:


> (just blueberries, strawberries & bananas)


Oo, yum!

I'm gonna make some of those for the g-kids on Sunday.


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## Aunt Marg (Jul 2, 2021)

Happy 4th of July to all of my United States of North America friends!


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## Meanderer (Jul 2, 2021)

Charles Phoenix's Fabulous Fourth of July Appetizer ...


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## JustBonee (Jul 2, 2021)




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## Gaer (Jul 2, 2021)

*GOD BLESS AMERICA!*


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## RadishRose (Jul 2, 2021)




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## Meanderer (Jul 2, 2021)




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## Lewkat (Jul 2, 2021)




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## SeaBreeze (Jul 2, 2021)

Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!


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## ohioboy (Jul 2, 2021)

1776: 1+7+7+6 = 21

21 gun salute.


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## JustBonee (Jul 3, 2021)




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## Tom 86 (Jul 3, 2021)

Toby Keith - Happy Birthday America


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## Lewkat (Jul 3, 2021)




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## horseless carriage (Jul 3, 2021)

And what if it was a mistake from the start? The Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, the creation of the United States of America—what if all this was a terrible idea, and what if the injustices and madness of American life since then have occurred not in spite of the virtues of the Founding Fathers but because of them? The Revolution, this argument might run, was a needless and brutal bit of slaveholders’ panic mixed with Enlightenment argle-bargle, producing a country that was always marked for violence and disruption and demagogy. Look north to Canada, or south to Australia, and you will see different possibilities of peaceful evolution away from Britain, toward sane and whole, more equitable and less sanguinary countries. No revolution, and slavery might have ended, as it did elsewhere in the British Empire, more peacefully and sooner. No “peculiar institution,” no hideous Civil War and appalling aftermath. Instead, an orderly development of the interior—less violent, and less inclined to celebrate the desperado over the peaceful peasant. We could have ended with a social-democratic commonwealth that stretched from north to south, a near-continent-wide Canada.

So says Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/15/we-could-have-been-canada
It resonated with me because there's someone that I know from Maine who is passionately American, passionate about a Republic rather than a monarchy and yet realises that if that fantasy were a reality, the US head of state would be The British Monarch. Funny old world.


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## JustBonee (Jul 3, 2021)




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## Keesha (Jul 3, 2021)

Happy 4th of July to our southern neighbours


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## Jules (Jul 3, 2021)

Wishing every American a wonderful, celebratory day.  Happy 4th of July.


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## PamfromTx (Jul 3, 2021)




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## PamfromTx (Jul 3, 2021)

Jules said:


> Wishing every American a wonderful, celebratory day.  Happy 4th of July.


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## Ken N Tx (Jul 4, 2021)




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## katlupe (Jul 4, 2021)

Happy Fourth of July!


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## CinnamonSugar (Jul 4, 2021)

At a Lexington (KY) Legends minor league game— baseball and the 4th of July .   Happy Birthday, America!


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## MickaC (Jul 4, 2021)

BE PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN......ENJOY and be SAFE.


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## RadishRose (Jul 4, 2021)




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## JustBonee (Jul 4, 2021)




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## Aunt Bea (Jul 4, 2021)




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## JustBonee (Jul 4, 2021)




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## Gary O' (Jul 4, 2021)

SeaBreeze said:


> Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!


Yeah, safe

Too many wild fires around

Tonight, we'll be kickin' up our heels and watching the fireworks show at the fairgrounds
from the vantage of our porch


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## Pink Biz (Jul 4, 2021)




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## CinnamonSugar (Jul 4, 2021)

Me and 4 of my six (the middle ones) + photo bombing grandchild 



fun in the sprinkler for the grand girls


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## HarryHawk (Jul 4, 2021)




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## horseless carriage (Jul 4, 2021)

Pink Biz said:


> *
> 
> View attachment 171918*


Britain doesn't have an Independence Day, because everyone else got their Independence days from Britain.

Did you know that that any day of the year has a 1 in 7 chance of being celebrated as Independence Day from the British? 61 colonies have gained independence from the UK with 52 unique Independence Days.


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## Jules (Jul 4, 2021)

@CinnamonSugar  A day of lots of fun for you. You don’t look like you’ve had six children.  You’re very fit.


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## CinnamonSugar (Jul 4, 2021)

Jules said:


> @CinnamonSugar  A day of lots of fun for you. You don’t look like you’ve had six children.  You’re very fit.


That’s very sweet of you, @Jules    I try


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## HazyDavey (Jul 4, 2021)

Happy Birthday America!!


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## PamfromTx (Jul 4, 2021)




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## PamfromTx (Jul 4, 2021)

CinnamonSugar said:


> View attachment 172248
> Me and 4 of my six (the middle ones) + photo bombing grandchild
> 
> View attachment 172249
> ...


Great photos, @CinnamonSugar !    You look so pretty!


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## fmdog44 (Jul 4, 2021)

More fireworks are going off in my neighborhood than ever before. Its like the entire population is lighting them off.


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## horseless carriage (Jul 5, 2021)

horseless carriage said:


> Britain doesn't have an Independence Day, because everyone else got their Independence days from Britain.
> 
> Did you know that that any day of the year has a 1 in 7 chance of being celebrated as Independence Day from the British? 61 colonies have gained independence from the UK with 52 unique Independence Days.


See the full list of countries that were once part of the British Empire here: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_...e_gained_independence_from_the_United_Kingdom


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## CinnamonSugar (Jul 5, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> Great photos, @CinnamonSugar !    You look so pretty!


Aw thanks @PamfromTx !


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## Alligatorob (Jul 5, 2021)

horseless carriage said:


> And what if it was a mistake from the start? The Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, the creation of the United States of America—what if all this was a terrible idea, and what if the injustices and madness of American life since then have occurred not in spite of the virtues of the Founding Fathers but because of them? The Revolution, this argument might run, was a needless and brutal bit of slaveholders’ panic mixed with Enlightenment argle-bargle, producing a country that was always marked for violence and disruption and demagogy. Look north to Canada, or south to Australia, and you will see different possibilities of peaceful evolution away from Britain, toward sane and whole, more equitable and less sanguinary countries. No revolution, and slavery might have ended, as it did elsewhere in the British Empire, more peacefully and sooner. No “peculiar institution,” no hideous Civil War and appalling aftermath. Instead, an orderly development of the interior—less violent, and less inclined to celebrate the desperado over the peaceful peasant. We could have ended with a social-democratic commonwealth that stretched from north to south, a near-continent-wide Canada.


An interesting perspective.  And in retrospect maybe right, who knows.

I do believe the Revolution kick started our move to greater freedoms, even the eventual (way too slow) liberation of the slaves, I think it also inspired more democratic governments in other countries.  And it is possible that without our Revolution the British would have been slower to give independence to other colonies like Canada and Australia.  And slower to adopt their own movement to a more democratic government and freedom for their people.

As to freeing slaves sooner, you might be right, however no part of the British empire was as dependent on a well developed slave economy as the US southern states.  Some of the Caribbean might have been, but populations were smaller and the collapse in sugar prices, coupled with Haiti's slave revolt helped end it there.

Who knows, but it is always interesting to think about alternative history.

I am proud to be an American and always celebrate the 4th.  I know our history is not perfect, but compared to a lot of the world it is pretty good.  I am happy to be a part of!


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## Chris P Bacon (Jul 5, 2021)




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## GAlady (Jul 5, 2021)

ohioboy said:


> Yea, both died on the 50th anniversary of the signing, July 4, 1826. When Adams died he said "Jefferson still lives", but he had in fact died a few hours earlier.


Never knew that.  I am learning something new every day.


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## ohioboy (Jul 5, 2021)

GAlady said:


> Never knew that.  I am learning something new every day.


James Monroe died on July 4th too, but not in 1826.


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## Happyflowerlady (Jul 5, 2021)

This is the SWA 50th anniversary airplane, Freedom One. It is to celebrate their 50th year anniversary; but it just came out a week or  two ago, and it is totally perfect for our Independence Day celebrations.  This is a beautiful all-American airplane, to my way of thinking !

https://worldairlinenews.com/2021/0...rs-with-a-new-freedom-one-logo-jet-on-n500wr/


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## Gary O' (Jul 9, 2021)

Y'know, I missed posting my little annual 4th of July story

So

I'll jus' slip it in here;


*Ribs and other Bones*


There’s nothing like a good meal for a get together,
and the good meal is a barbeque.

Being a northerner that spent some years down south, I can say those boys down there know barbeque.
Ribs, fallin off the bone.
Chikin, smoked, from wood, not wunna those fancy pellet rigs, but by an ol’ guy raised in a ‘grease house’, from a pit the size of a horse trough.
Beans, I didn’t know beans could taste like that. Odd things, strange herbs, spices, homemade sauces, a bit a fat meat, marinated for hours. They were a meal all by themselves.
Tater salad…M-M-M-M, none like it.
Sweet tea, steeped in a gallon jug in the sun.
Beer, Lone Star or Falstaff, didn’t matter, both tasted like mop water from a juke joint, but did their job of cleansing the palate for the next bite.
Sip, rib, sip, chikin, sip, beans, sip, salad, guzzle the rest.
Made ya just fall down and scream.

*Houston*
Down the street, Telephone road, was wunna those grease houses.
An old black gent lived there with what seemed like three generations of family.
Everbuddie's grampa, even mine for awhile.
Everyone called him Chili.
Bib overalls, white butcher’s apron, leather baseball cap was his eternal uniform.


Had a high pitched, raspy voice, and always a smirk on his ol’ mug.
More often then not, you’d find me sittin’ at his dilapidated picnic table after work, watchin’ him toil over the pit.
Nuthin’ attractive.
Tin lean-to roof, pile of wood, ol' white fridge that made a humming sound laboring in the heat, vats and jars, brushes, large forks, and the huge pit with a homemade steel lid, that once he was satisfied with how things were goin’ he’d drop down and come out to talk to me…..talk about stories…old day stories…..bone chilling, horrific stories.

Naw, nuthin’ attractive….. ‘cept for the rich savory aromatic fragrance emanating from that glorious pit.
I’d sit there, sweating like a pig, drool stream gathering on the table in a puddle…

‘Chili!
WTF ol’ man!?’

‘Boy, you know it’s not ready….I’ll tell ya when it’s ready.’

It was worth the wait.


Fourth of July…or as they say down there JOOOlah, everyone barbequed.
Po foke, rich foke, middle class foke, all had their pits goin’.
You couldn’t walk two steps without getting hit upside the head with the aroma of the gods.

One fourth, me and my lady were flat broke.
I’d come off a month long stint in Brownsville, inspecting oil field pipe, big job.
*Tuboscope* laid some folks off after that, so I volunteered for some time off myself.
Took most of June, just me and my lady…nobody else.
Ran outta money…rent was paid, car was maintained, just broke….food crumbs in the fridge, empty bottles piled in the corner of the carport below…sittin’ on the couch smokin’ a partial I’d dug outta the butt can.

‘I’m goin’ back to work.’

‘It’s the fourth.’

‘Oh’

Chili and family had gone somewhere.
It was hot.
Most neighbors had headed to Galveston.

Our guts were eatin’ guts.
Hadn’t been so hungry in a long time.
A friend invited us to a company get together.
The park was filled with heavenly flavors.
Kids, old folk, parents, all had plates heaped with goodies, goodies that tempted me to follow ‘em, floating on the fragrant waves.

We strolled over to the tables.

$3.50

$3.50??!!

I had 37 cents.

On the way back to the garage apartment I swore I’d never put myself in that position again…especially on the fourth.

I think wunneezdaze we need to head back down south for a spell.

Something about the word* ‘brisket’* that just sounds savory…
didn’t know what it was ‘til I landed in Texas.


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