“If ever men should celebrate the day with the rapt ardor of devotees, it is the soldiers of the Union,” bent on “saving the Union of the revolutionary fathers from destruction.”
The residents of Fredericksburg VA didn't celebrate Independence Day in 1862. It was no longer their Independence Day. However, just across the river, within both sight and sound of the residents of Fredericksburg, the Union Army threw a raucous celebration, complete with fireworks, artillery salutes, mule races, a greased pole, and a greased pig.
posted by COD
on Jul 4, 2012 -
10 comments
The Declaration of Independence is perhaps the most masterfully written state paper of Western civilization. As Moses Coit Tyler noted almost a century ago, no assessment of it can be complete without taking into account its extraordinary merits as a work of political prose style. Although many scholars have recognized those merits, there are surprisingly few sustained studies of the stylistic artistry of the Declaration. This essay seeks to illuminate that artistry by probing the discourse microscopically -- at the level of the sentence, phrase, word, and syllable. The University of Wisconsin's Dr. Stephen E. Lucas meticulously analyzes the elegant language of the 235-year-old charter in a distillation of
this comprehensive study.
More on the Declaration: full transcript and
ultra-high-resolution scan,
a transcript and scan of Jefferson's annotated rough draft,
the little-known royal rebuttal,
a thorough history of the parchment itself,
a peek at the archival process, a reading of the document
by the people of NPR and
by a group of prominent actors,
H. L. Mencken's "American" translation,
Slate's Twitter summaries, and
a look at the fates of the 56 signers.
posted by Rhaomi
on Jul 4, 2011 -
72 comments
July 1942: United We Stand "Seven months after the United States entered World War II, magazines nationwide featured the American flag on their covers. Adopting the slogan United We Stand, some five hundred publications waved the stars and stripes to promote national unity, rally support for the war, and celebrate Independence Day."
posted by owillis
on Jul 5, 2003 -
60 comments
Independence Days Worldwide. Happy Independence Week,
Bahamas! or
What else happens in July? There's a lot of independence holidays, as there was a fair bit of colonialism to get out from under during the 19th/20th centuries. And most countries in general have important victories and events to celebrate... many of us are familiar with
Bastille Day and Cinco de Mayo, for example. The dates aren't so much important as the realization of the stories and struggles that have gone on and still go on around the world, but the dates are a place to start.
posted by namespan
on Jul 4, 2003 -
6 comments
Happy Independence Day USA! Celebrate it by asserting your independence. Regardless of any of our multifarious differences, Americans live in a country where it is legal to
disagree and dissent. In fact, by simple dint of being Americans we each by default, protect each other's rights to disagree. For without free dialogue we cease to be American at all. So without further ado. Let's celebrate our freedom!
posted by crasspastor
on Jul 3, 2002 -
35 comments
America @ 225. We're still working out all the kinks, but the "Gang of 50" keeps on chugging along. The
Fourth of July for me is the day where we can extol the virtues of nationalism unabashedly...
posted by owillis
on Jul 4, 2001 -
53 comments
