The Wrong Holiday
I am, so far as I am aware, the only American who believes that we are celebrating the wrong day when we laud the Fourth of July. It is not that I don't think the Declaration of Independence has no historical significance, nor that I think we ought to diminish the importance of the act of collective courage required by the Continental Congress. Quite the opposite!
(My favorite treatment of the D of I, oddly enough, comes from Stan Freberg's History of the United States of America, in a skit where Thomas Jefferson is trying to convince Benjamin Franklin to sign his petition. "Look at that showoff Hancock," Ben grumbles...)
It is perhaps a reflection on our national character (such as it might be) that we celebrate the moment of defiance, the day we shot the proverbial impudent gesture at the Crown, instead of the much more important day on which we actually GOT our independent status formally recognized. Specifically, September 3.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_%281783%29
Granted, "Fourth of July" has a better ring to it than "Third of September"...and even I am not so pedantic as to insist on the moment of the first salute. (November 16, 1776, St. Eustatius in the West Indies. Obscure reference, kids--ask Barbara Tuchman.)
And of course, now we've got the Higgs Boson, or as close as makes no odds, which is worthy of a few extra fireworks. :) Now if only I understood more than a tiny fraction of the physics involved! I wonder how Emmy's taking this. Probably wondering if the Higgs Boson tastes like steak or chicken.
(My favorite treatment of the D of I, oddly enough, comes from Stan Freberg's History of the United States of America, in a skit where Thomas Jefferson is trying to convince Benjamin Franklin to sign his petition. "Look at that showoff Hancock," Ben grumbles...)
Click to viewIt is perhaps a reflection on our national character (such as it might be) that we celebrate the moment of defiance, the day we shot the proverbial impudent gesture at the Crown, instead of the much more important day on which we actually GOT our independent status formally recognized. Specifically, September 3.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_%281783%29
Granted, "Fourth of July" has a better ring to it than "Third of September"...and even I am not so pedantic as to insist on the moment of the first salute. (November 16, 1776, St. Eustatius in the West Indies. Obscure reference, kids--ask Barbara Tuchman.)
And of course, now we've got the Higgs Boson, or as close as makes no odds, which is worthy of a few extra fireworks. :) Now if only I understood more than a tiny fraction of the physics involved! I wonder how Emmy's taking this. Probably wondering if the Higgs Boson tastes like steak or chicken.