By Bill King
Much to the surprise of many, and especially our second president, July 2 has never had much fanfare or brought about much of a celebration. Now, July 4, that is entirely a different story. The Fourth of July is a national holiday. Don’t expect to receive any mail that day. While the postman’s motto may say, “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postman from their appointed rounds,” a national holiday, such as the Fourth of July, will. It’s okay if you don’t receive your check in the mail on the fourth because the banks are all closed, and you couldn’t deposit it until the fifth anyway. Now if it comes early, say on the second, you are good to run on up to the bank and make that deposit. However, if John Adams had had his way, that would all be the opposite way.
John Adams was our nation’s first Vice President, as well as our second President. Adams was one of the first to sign the declaration and did so at least two days before many of the others. All 56 signers did not assemble at one time or on the same day. Before John Adams died, supposedly, he saw the now-famous painting of the signing and stated, “It never happened that way.” In a letter Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, on July 3, he said, “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 shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illumination from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”
Well, not quite so fast, Mr. President. Many signed the document two days after Mr. Adams did, and possibly some even later. The point is not the date but the action. The exact date is not as important as exactly what happened. What happened was 56 brave men declared our independence. Their signatures on that document cost some of them dearly. Some ended up losing everything they had, even their lives. That document declared our independence, but it took a seven-year war, which actually began before the declaration, to win our independence. An estimated 6,800 Americans were killed in action.
When I was younger, I always referred to this holiday as The Fourth of July. Sometimes I still do, but more often, I call it Independence Day. We aren’t celebrating a date on the calendar but the process of our freedom that eventually came about as a result of that declaration. We are celebrating the lives of those who gave so much to gain so much, not to mention those who have given ever since then, in order to protect our freedom. This year, Independence Day falls on a Tuesday. Since we like to celebrate our holidays on the weekends, many will celebrate the weekend before the Fourth. On that Sunday, we are having a cookout at our church. After the morning worship time, we will head back to our fellowship hall and grill hamburgers and hot dogs and have all those scrumptious sides and desserts that have absolutely no fat or carbs in them on holidays. John Adams would be so proud because that Sunday is July the 2nd! Whatever date you celebrate, please have a happy Fourth of July…excuse me; I mean Independence Day!
