Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The History of the 4th of July Celebrations

Starting point is 00:00:00 Few dates carry as much significant in the United States as July 4th, but the celebration of the date has evolved over time. July 4th, 1776 was not a day of celebration across the country as nobody outside of Philadelphia knew what had happened. But just one year later, it was being celebrated and has been ever since for a quarter of a millennium. Learn more about the history of the celebration of the 4th of July on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales,

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Starting point is 00:01:23 This city demands agility and optic delivers with precision to make every drive extraordinary. Let's take the Cadillac. Find out more at Cadillac Canada.ca. Luxury sales claim based on S&P Global Mobility Canadian New Vehicle Total Registrations for calendar year 2025 for the Cadillac definition of luxury. The 1st 4th of July in 1776 wasn't celebrated at all. While Jefferson had written the Declaration of Independence by late June, the Second Continental Congress still needed to pass Richard Henry Lee's resolution of independence, which was passed on July 2nd.

Starting point is 00:01:59 As I covered in a previous episode, the vote on the resolution of independence by the Continental Congress can be considered the date on which independence was actually declared. The language of the Declaration of Independence was finalized in the late afternoon of July 4th, 1776. After a consensus was reached, it needed to be printed at John Dunlap's print shop and distributed across the colonies. It was first read in Philadelphia, then in New York on July 9th, and in Boston on July 18th. It didn't reach Virginia until late July and southern colonies until August. When it was read aloud in the summer of 1776, it was met with roaring approval in celebration.

Starting point is 00:02:38 After it was read in New York City, the crowd was so enthusiastic that they marched to a nearby two-ton statue of King George III, pulled it down, and had it melted into more than 40,000 units of ammunition for the war effort. Full-on celebrations of the 4th of July would have to wait until 1777, when the holiday was commemorated as a day of remembrance. The reason July 4th was celebrated as July 2nd is that was the date that was on the document that everybody read. This holiday was much more somber than its modern incarnations, as the Revolutionary War was still in full swing. The Philadelphia Evening Post reported on the day's proceedings, which included a ringing of the city's bells and a 13-gun salute at a time of powder shortage. They noted, quote, yesterday the 4th of July, being the anniversary of the independence of the United States of America, was celebrated in the city with demonstrations of joy and festivity.

Starting point is 00:03:33 end quote. The Massachusetts state legislature officially recognized the day as a state holiday in 1781. The legislation called for public rejoicing, a bold move as the Revolutionary War still wasn't over. Rejoicing in 1781 meant local ministers reading the declaration to their parishes, prayer, a feast among friends, and bonfires, as gunpowder at the time couldn't be spared. The holiday's importance grew significantly after the war ended in George Washington. became president. The day was often marked by speeches amplifying the virtues of American democracy. Prades became a Fourth of July tradition, serving as a visual representation of the nation's struggle and highlighting veteran sacrifice. The early politics of the Republic were quite acrimonious

Starting point is 00:04:20 with politicians attacking one another with a ferocity that would make modern politicians blush. The tension was so great that violence nearly erupted at competing events in New York in the wake of the widely condemned J Treaty during the festivities in the summer of 1795. As the nation migrated to a system based on political parties, the very factions that George Washington had warned Americans about in his 1796 farewell address, had compromised the unity of the 4th of July. In the wake of Washington's retirement, these competing factions held separate celebrations. Historian Michael Hatton highlighted the differences between the competing festivals, noting, quote, for the Democratic Republicans, especially in the north,

Starting point is 00:05:01 The parades would heavily feature artisans and workers because they saw themselves as the more popular, less elitist-controlled parties. Processions in federalist-controlled areas would often have been organized in a much more hierarchical fashion and led by the most important people in town. End quote. The War of 1812 had significant implications for the commemoration of the Fourth of July. The outbreak of the War of 1812 fueled a new wave of nationalism that cemented the holiday in American identity and strengthened unity. The war also changed how the event was commemorated. Before the war of 1812, cannons and guns were fired in salute on the 4th of July. As they did during the Revolutionary War, local officials

Starting point is 00:05:42 aimed to conserve gunpowder. Instead of firing heavy artillery, they asked citizens to place candles in their windows for a quiet public illumination. For a public spectacle, they would detonate lower-grade gunpowder packed into a tube with refuse iron fillings, which when ignited shot a brief, brilliant shower of golden sparks into the sky. The war of 1812 also provided the soundtrack to the holiday. The attack on Fort McHenry, chronicled by Francis Scott Key and the Star-Spangled Banner, became a vital part of the nation's identity. A particularly somber 4th of July occurred in 1826,

Starting point is 00:06:18 when both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day, which also coincidentally was the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The two men had fallen out of friendship after the 1800 election, only to reunite decades later. A generation later, the national trauma of the Civil War interrupted the holiday's impact. During the conflict, Confederate newspapers urged their readers to ignore the holiday. Stores stayed open, parades were canceled, and there were no fireworks. At its core, the Fourth of July is a holiday about the creation of America, the union of 13 colonies into a single republic, and that ran antithetical to the secession.

Starting point is 00:06:58 of the Confederacy. In 1863, two of the most significant Union victories of the Civil War converged on the 4th of July. On the morning of July 4th, word spread that the Union Army had just repelled Robert E. Lee's advance into the north at Gittiesburg the day before. Simultaneously down south, General Ulysses S. Grant took total control of the Mississippi River as the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi, officially surrendered, severing the Confederacy in two. The grueling 47-day siege of Vicksburg was such a devastating blow that the local citizens refused to celebrate the 4th of July for the next 81 years. Believe it or not, it wasn't until after the Civil War in 1870 that the 4th of July was finally declared an official federal holiday.

Starting point is 00:07:47 America's centennial celebration in 1876 provided an opportunity to turn the page and reclaim the unity that was central to the holiday. President Grant offered his vision in calling for a quote, a day of reflection and gratitude. The centennial celebration coincided with the end of post-Civil War Reconstruction, a period marked by division and tension. Reconstruction had not solved the challenges in integrating former slaves into the United States, despite the passage of constitutional amendments to advance their citizenship. Violence was breaking out across the South, including the Hamburg Massacre,

Starting point is 00:08:21 which broke out in South Carolina over a July 4th parade. The real story of the Centennial Celebration, emerged that summer as Philadelphia hosted the World's Fair, called the Centennial Exposition. The fair captivated more than 10 million people, and the organizers hoped to show a United States that had put the Civil War behind it. Visitors were treated to innovations like the typewriter, Heinz ketchup, the telephone, and the mighty coreless steam engine. One of the most spectacular aspects of the Centennial Exposition was the debut of the Statue of Liberty's right arm and torch, which was scheduled to arrive in time for the holiday, but was delayed until

Starting point is 00:09:01 later in the summer. Fairgoers could climb inside the torch for a fee, with proceeds helping to cover the cost of the statue's massive base. Yet amid all the glittering splendor of the centennial exposition, the world's fair had one definitive impact on the celebration of the 4th of July. It transformed it into a truly national event. During the 1876 centennial, the nation's attention turned squarely to Philadelphia, which hosted a grand jubilee. At the stroke of midnight, the city, which was already known for its famous bells, debuted the centennial bell, drawing tens of thousands of spectators into the street. But organizers weren't done yet. Emits the roaring train whistles and fireworks, they staged two symbolic gestures explicitly engineered to promote national unity.

Starting point is 00:09:50 To visually display the healing of a fractured country, Pennsylvania governor and union veteran John Hartraft stepped onto the stage to shake hands with Virginia Governor James Kemper, a man who had been wounded fighting for the Confederacy at Gettysburg. The famous handshake was met with an enthusiastic response from the crowd. Moments later, the grandson, a founding father, Richard Henry Lee, stepped forward to unroll and read the actual original parchment of the Declaration of Independence. Lee's reading marked the last time that the document would ever leave Washington, D.C. A century later, the 1976 bicentennial was filled with exciting events that attracted national attention.

Starting point is 00:10:31 Unlike in 1876, this celebration could truly be national thanks to television. In New York City, the nation's birthday was celebrated by Operation Sale. It was a tall ship gala that brought 16 historic tall ships up the Hudson River as an estimated 6 million people watch them sail past the Statue of Liberty. Fame journalist Walter Cronkite summed up the power of operations, sale when he said it was, quote, the grandest birthday party in the history of the world. The bicentennial commission of Pennsylvania pulled off the bicentennial wagon train. The wagon train was a group of thousands of covered wagons crossing the country from west to east.

Starting point is 00:11:11 As historian Mark Stein noted, it was, quote, manifest destiny in reverse. The wagons, organized and run by volunteers, even tried to stick to historic westward migration routes whenever possible as they converged on Valley Forge on July 3rd, with a festival planned for the 4th. Ross Roland Jr., a train enthusiast and successful commodities broker, thought it would be fitting to honor America's bicentennial with the Freedom Train. The train was a traveling museum of American artifacts, including George Washington's copy of the Constitution, that toured the 48 contiguous states for nearly two years. Those who were children during the bicentennial undoubtedly remember the wildly popular ABC educational series Schoolhouse Rock, which was rebranded for the Bicentennial

Starting point is 00:11:57 as America Rock. America Rock briefly abandoned the clever three-minute spots on grammar and math and replaced them with patriotic videos of American history. With features focusing on battles of the revolution, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, America Rock brought the bicentennial directly to children. The United States government also fueled the celebration by creating commemorative pieces that instantly became collector's items. leading the charge, the U.S. Postal Service delighted stamp collectors as it celebrated the Bicentennial by printing more than 100 individual commemorative stamps as part of its historic American Bicentennial series. Not to be outdone, the U.S. Mint ran a nationwide design competition

Starting point is 00:12:36 to redesign the reverse sides of three specific denominations, the quarter, the half dollar, and the $1.1. The winning designs featured a dual date, 1776, 1976. These new issues celebrated the nation's milestone by featuring a colonial drummer boy, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell resting on the moon. The coins remain incredibly common as the mint produced more than 1.6 billion quarters. The coins and stamps allowed everybody to take part in the festivities, even if you couldn't get to New York for operation sale, or the wagon train didn't come through your town. It was nearly impossible to drive down any street in America without spotting American flags on every front porch, as the bicentennial inspired a massive wave of national

Starting point is 00:13:20 unity and patriotism. But the event was not without critics. Critics panned the bicentennial as the bi-B-U-Y centennial as corporations capitalized on the patriotic enthusiasm by branding nearly every product, from T-shirts to soda cans to the famed Poo-Land, Red, White and Blue Spirit of 76 commemorative chainsaw. As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, or its semi-Quincentennial, a term that doesn't really fall off the tongue, we will be celebrating in many of the same ways that we have in the past. There are efforts by corporations to brand products with patriotic symbols and flags, and there will certainly be fireworks in nearly every municipality in the country, not to mention the private pyrotechnics which formed the backbone of the multi-billion dollar fireworks industry.

Starting point is 00:14:08 The Washington Mall is expected to host a world-record fireworks display this July 4th, featuring a 40-minute show with an estimated 851,000 fireworks. And if you're around 50 years from now, you might get to enjoy the tricentennial, which will probably involve robots and a spaceship parade on the moon. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research in writing for this episode were provided by Joel Hermanson. Today's review comes from listener, Oh Mama Ha on Apple Podcasts in the United States.

Starting point is 00:14:46 They write, exceptional. Perfect snack size podcast. podcast for curious people. My absolute favorite. Thanks, Gary, but now I'm trying to figure out how to sneak defenestration into a conversation. Well, thanks, oh, mamaha. It's actually really simple. Just tell someone that if they don't know what defenestration means, then they are worthy of defenestration. Remember, if you leave a review of the podcast on any of the major podcast apps, then you two can have it read on the show. With no more kings. We're going to elect a president. No more kings. He's going to do what the people

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Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The History of the 4th of July Celebrations

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