Independence Day: Why it wasn't June, or May, or April or any other Month

            Interestingly the dates and days are the same in 2018 as they were in 1776. On Friday, June 29 they received a courier with the news in the late afternoon. So they adjourned before acting. On Saturday, June 30, they pondered in the coffee shops in the morning and in the taverns that eve. On Sunday, July 1, they pondered in the churches in the morning and in … well the taverns were closed in Philadelphia that eve. On Monday, July 2, the first day of business since the news arrived they acted, because they had to do something to save their collective Congressional asses.

Independence Hall!

          We think of independence as a bold stroke, a patriotic moment, a courageous yet divisive decision, and in the historical abstract our mythology is correct. “Independance” did take courage by patriotic figures who knew that it would be praised and cursed, but the moment of July 4, 1776 really had nothing to do with these variables, at least not as we have been taught. Instead for the delegates in the Continental Congress it was a decision forced upon them, predicated upon a decision they had intended to put off but made immediate because of a monumental failure. And that scenario we are never taught.

            Much of what is to follow is based on an article I am working on but articles take so much time, and they are not nearly as fun as blogs, so here is the blog form.  Before we begin indulge me a little with a scenario of my own. Imagine, if you will, an adolescent who has recently made some very obstinate actions towards the authority of parents who had finally had enough of shenanigans. The teen lives at home under the protection of these parents, but due to that recent obstinance has been given an ultimatum that it is time to move out. The teen began making plans, looking for a place, looking for roommates, looking for some sympathy from friends, and though the teen was not allowed in the family home, the teen still regarded the house of his parents as home. Finally, several months later, after crashing the family car, this adolescent announced to the parents, “I am moving out, and you can’t do anything about it.” My question regards who actually made the decision for the teen to move out? The teen with a bold pronouncement? Or the parents with the demand months and months before?  According to the American History that you and I grew up with, it was the teen who claimed his own miraculous independence.

            In August and September of 1775, King George III of Great Britain, and therefore, of Britain’s North American Colonies, declared the colonies in rebellion and out of the empire.  Upon his word, the word of his majesty the King, the colonies were independent. Why did he do this? For legal reasons. 

           The colonies under British (English) law were colonies by settlement of British colonists and therefore those who lived in the colonies enjoyed the rights of participation in government (consent) as had been long standing practice in England and long developed legally as part of the British Constitution.  What this meant is that the colonies had the right to reject aspects of rightful, constitutional, Parliamentary rule (the rule of King, Lords, and Commons). And so they had done for a decade before these speeches by the King. But to the Crown and the government in London that had to end. After indulging the colonist’s refusal to be governed, the easiest way for the crown to get around the rights of free British subjects (their right to consent to government) was to make the legal basis of the colonies something other than that of colonies by “settlement.” The other type of colony under British law, colonies where the crown could impose whatever government it liked and establish rights of whatever whim it wanted, was colony by “conquest.” And now after the King’s speech, with the colonies no longer part of the empire, they were free to be conquered and imposed upon as Parliament in England saw fit.

Can you imagine this as your ruler? For no other reason than she was born to it?

Or is it better to make your accident by ballot than accident by birth?

That she would actually be photoed by a prop from a show that

totally depicts why blood based systems are horrific just shows how

messed up the concept of birthright monarchy is. Morrissey is at least right on that regard.

               If you think your internet lag is a problem, imagine getting news by sail boat across an ocean. It was not until late November and December that the colonists, and in particular the delegates of the Continental Congress, began getting the news of the change in their legal status. And they knew, they knew upon reading the text of this news that whether they liked it or not they were then and their “independent” of Great Britain.  All of the colonies, all of the colonists, were independent. There was no debate, there was no chance for reconciliation (so the play/movie 1776 is utter hogwash), there was only an independence forced upon them and they had better do something about it. And they did.

             They, the delegates of the Continental Congress, convened in January of 1776 and began meeting in secret to formulate a plan to secure their independence – to 1. Confederate into some form of disunited unity 2. Find allies (they hated the French because they were British but now that they weren’t British they thought they could rely on the French) and 3. Make a bold pronouncement as to the nature of what independence would mean or in other words declare their intentions to a candid world.

            What? You’re still stuck on colonist’s refusal to be governed? Why should they not refuse the tyranny of British tyrannical tyrants? Ugh. Ok. Short version. No tyranny. The English taxpayer paid the bills of the colonies, not the colonial taxpayer, and when the French invaded with their native allies, it was the English taxpayer who paid the expense for the armies that protected the colonies. Colonial courts? Paid by English taxpayers. Protection of colonial shipping from pirates? Paid by English taxpayers. Colonial administration? Paid by English taxpayers or at least a lion’s share of expenses throughout the colonies, not paid by colonists, but paid by English taxpayers. So that is where the Sugar Tax and Stamp Act came from. The colonists threw a fit and so the British repealed. That’s where the Townshend Acts came from. The colonists threw a fit and so the British repealed … except for the one on Tea which was necessary to save the English East India Company from going broke (they took this from Obama and his too big to fail doctrine (The Revolution was Obama’s fault!)). So when the Sons of Liberty destroyed the Tea, the British were the unreasonable ones? Independence and the values of the Revolution are indeed to be lauded, but to make the British in this case into tyrants is a historical absurdity. Now, can we proceed with the Congress?

            January and February they met in secret to develop the plan and plan other contingencies for a British-less future.  In March some more writing lagged aboard ship communication and brought word of Parliamentary Acts to conquer the colonies, and what that entailed – a huge army and the end of colonial merchant commerce as they knew it. The reaction of the delegates? We need to invade Canada! Ok, not quite because the invasion had already begun, but now it was more necessary than ever.

Oh Canada! My favorite view: Parish Island
at Charleston Lake, Ontario

          Trump was not the first to realize the threat of those polite and friendly people to the north of us, the Continental Congress realized it to – or at least they realized that Canada posed a strategic problem that had to be dealt with in the wars to come. With the formation of the Continental Army in the Summer of 1775 (a move that helped to precipitate the King’s speeches) it was not long after that colonial strategists realized that Canada provided close proximity to the colonies as a base of operations for Britain. In November a force was sent under the inferior command of Richard Montgomery whose best general officer was none other than Benedict Arnold, the traitor. But before he was a traitor, it turns out that Benedict was the most capable field officer in the Continental Army – in fact the great victory of Saratoga in 1777 that supposedly saved the Revolution was because of Benedict (who got no credit and promptly went back to being British). In 1776 Benedict also saved the Canadian invasion from total collapse and annihilation. So what does that have to do with independence? Return to Philadelphia and we’ll see.

          While the invasion was going on hundreds of miles from the delegates, they too had work to do, to secure independence and mostly to make sure that they didn’t fail in keeping their independence – because if the British come knocking at Independence Hall, they are going to hang all the delegates. It’s what you do to leaders of resistance when you conquer. On May 10, 1776 the delegates voted a resolution that further demonstrates that they knew they were independent. The resolution which was sent to every colonial legislature stated that each colony should from that day forward base their authority, not on the authority of the King, but on the authority of the people of the colony. Seems pretty definitive in spite of what the Broadway play would have us believe, that there was some big question, some trepidation, some outrage – nope. They all knew they were independent and they were developing the legal corpus to gain the support of the population so that their corpus was not hung from London Bridge.

Hey, in its day this was high speed fiber optic cable, baby!

            And then the news came, Friday, June 29. The Canadian Invasion had collapsed and was an utter failure. Confederation was still in committee, as the old colonies/new states had some things to iron out. Negotiations with France were getting underway, so the colonies had no official allies. The delegates needed to do something, but it was late on a Friday and it was time to get their drink on. So they adjourned. Surprising given the urgency of the moment, but it was a different time, when things moved more slowly (three months to google anything). Besides, they only had one thing left to do. Can’t unveil the Confederation Plan of Union or let your fellow colonists know that now we fight with the French. No, only one thing left to do and that can wait until Monday.

             On Saturday, June 30, they pondered in the coffee shops in the morning and in the taverns that eve. On Sunday, July 1, they pondered in the churches in the morning and in … well the taverns were closed in Philadelphia that eve. On Monday, July 2, the first day of business since the news arrived they acted, and ratified a declaration to be announced to the colonists to rally them to their cause – their cause being one of the delegates staying alive. The Founders knew they needed a rip roaring indictment of Britain and the British King to excite the masses (most of whom were British/English by birth, language, culture and choice) and get them on the side of independence, hence this was a military not an ideological decision. The Founders knew that if they could not get support that all the “I’m sorry” in the world would not save them from the wrath of empire and the illing pain that comes from losing your head. The Founders knew that in spite of being legally on their own for nearly a year, it was time for them to let the parents know, “I am moving out, and you can’t do anything about it.”

Happy Independence Day.