July 4, 2007
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Holiday Histories: Declaration Day
Declaration Day? Don’t you mean Independence Day? On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, commonly known as the Declaration of Independence. Each one of the 56 delegates knew the risk he was taking by signing what could become his death warrant. If they lost the war, they would be accused as traitors. (The penalty for treason was hanging the victim until he was half dead, then disemboweling him and cutting his body into four quarters while he was still alive.)
But this document was not the true declaration of independence.
The charters of the thirteen colonies specifically said that all legislative powers were to be vested solely in the legislative assemblies of each of the colonies. Parliament does not have any jurisdiction in any of the internal affairs of the colonies. Parliament and the King (note: “King” is capitalized as a title, comparable to “President”) are not even mentioned in most of the charters.
According to the English Bill of Rights (a part of the English Constitution), the King does not have the power to make laws, only regulations. If the King wanted legislation, he had to submit the bill to Parliament, the sole lawmaking body of England.
King George wanted the throne to have more power, so he stacked Parliament with some of his puppets (the “King’s friends”). Now if he wanted legislative control in the colonies, he would have to use Parliament, the lawmaking body that he had some control over. This commenced when Parliament tried to tax the colonies in order to assert its right to make laws in the colonies. The colonies resisted taxation by Parliament because according to their charters, only their colonial assemblies could tax them. They knew that if Parliament got its foot in the door by asserting its right to tax the colonies, it would probably use this legislative power to establish the Anglican Church (the established church in England) in the colonies, thereby strangling the other independent churches and limiting religious freedom. The Anglican Church was known for its profession in the absolute authority of the King.
The colonists assumed that all the legislation that Parliament was pushing was the result of the King’s overzealous ministers, abusing the name of the King. The first Continental Congress met September 5, 1774 for the purpose of seeking reconciliation and also urging the King to right the wrongs of Parliament. On October 1, the Petition to the King was proposed and of December 21 it was delivered to Lord Dartmouth and received by King George.
In spite of the petition “graciously received,” war began on April 19,1775. The colonists were determined to protect their right of making their own laws and to preserve religious liberty; Parliament was just as determined to usurp that right. Although the colonists had hoped that armed resistance would cause Parliament to withdraw its legislative interference, the idea that the colonists deliberately engineered a war at Lexington and Concord is farfetched. According to the nineteenth century historian, George Bancroft, the British tried to suggest “that a handful of countrymen at Lexington had begun a fight with a detachment that outnumbered them at twelve to one.”
On May 26, 1775, the Continental Congress again resolved that, despite the hostilities which had begun on April 19, they would send another petition to the King. This was the Olive Branch Petition. It confirmed the natural ties with Britain and expressed loyalty to the King. Although it requested that the recent offensive acts be removed, it was truly conciliatory. It was signed on July 8, 1775 by 49 men, more than half of which signed The unanimous Declaration only one year later.
For some reason King George had falsely assumed that the colonists were designing a separation, and planned to squelch it by threat of war or actual war. He proposed, against vigorous protests in Parliament, to remove his protection from the colonies and to treat them as foreign enemies. Everyone knew what this meant. It was a basic legal principle that removal of protection would mean removal of the duty of allegiance; King George would be forfeiting his authority over the colonies.
On December 22, 1775 the Prohibitory Act was passed by Parliament (with the help of the “King’s friends”). This is the true Independence Day, eight months before Declaration Day. The Prohibitory Act officially removed the colonies from under the King’s protection and declared war on them with their unconditional submission as the only way to obtain peace. The King renounced the colonies, severing all ties and embarking on a malicious war of conquest. This was the true declaration of independence.
When the colonists found out about the Prohibitory Act, they immediately recognized that they were independent. Why The Declaration then? First, the colonies needed allies for the coming conflict. They wanted the other nations to recognize them as a legitimate nation. Second, with no structure of authority left, the colonies needed to form their own government to avoid anarchy. Third, the colonists needed to end attempts at reconciliation to be effective during the coming conflict. The King had rejected their petitions, expelled them from his protection, and declared war on them. (They now realized that it was the King, not Parliament, that was behind the attempts at usurpation all along.)
The colonists did not just get fed up with British tyranny and declare independence. They were wholly for reconciliation until the real declaration of independence (the Prohibitory Act) was passed. Then they just decided to end attempts at reconciliation and recognize independence by The unanimous Declaration.
It occurred to someone in Philadelphia on July 2, 1777, that the anniversary of the adoption of The Declaration should be celebrated. Arrangements for a dinner were made and Congress adjourned for the day on the fourth. Celebrations were elaborate and noisy all day and into the night.
The firing of cannon and fireworks caused so many injuries and deaths throughout the country that, by the early 1900s, ordinances forbidding private pyrotechnics were passed in many cities. Now, Fourth of July fireworks are largely handled by professionals.
Celebration of the Fourth of July gradually spread throughout the country and into the new states and territories as they were admitted to the union or as they were created. Today, the day is recognized a holiday in every state and territory.
