Remembering July 4
Imagine John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson weighing the pros and cons of American Independence, singing tunes like "Piddle, Twiddle and Resolve" and "The Lees of Old Virginia" between deliberations. It seemed silly, but Peter H. Hunt did helmed a musical film set in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. "1776" was based on the 1969 stage musical of the same name, also directed by Hunt. Historians pointed out that the depiction was grossly inaccurate, as the event was held in secrecy. They were right, but remembering the past doesn't always have to be in serious tone.
The real events behind "1776" showed George Washington thriving on personal achievement and success, and his chance came during the American Revolution, a thirteen-year political upheaval during which thirteen colonies, namely Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, broke from the British Empire and formed an indepedent nation, the United States of America. This wasn't a David-and-Goliath case, as the colonies got support from the Kingdoms of France and Spain, even the Native Americans. There was debate on whether American victory was a long shot, which hardly mattered nowadays, as the United States Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
When the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, America got what more than it wanted when it came to her territory. It also meant the end to the First British Empire, the largest in history. Spain, on the other hand, didn't gain much. As for France, it was a mixed result, as the treaty was a propaganda victory over the British after her defeat in the Seven Years War. But its financial loss was enormous. This, coupled with the financial disaster of the 1780, led to the French Revolution. This was another momentous event, which linked the two nations. It was so special, such that the French people gifted the Americans with the Statue of Liberty.
"If a monument should rise in the United States, as a memorial to their independence, I should think it only natural if it were built by united effort - a common work of both our nations," politician Édouard René de Laboulaye have said.
The idea was conceived in 1865, nearly a century after the American Revolution ended. But the delay was understandable, after France had her share of uprisings and bloodshed. The statue was of a robed female figure, reminiscent of Marianne, the national emblem of the French Republic. She represented Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, bearing a torch and a tablet evoking the law (upon which inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence). Standing in the middle of New York Harbor, it would become the Big Apple's top tourist destination. This may not be what the forefathers envisioned, but they wouldn't mind.
Nowadays, the fourth of July is mark with fireworks. It's a festive event, which is not the case back then.
