The American story is and always has been a bumpy one. One thing Americans are great at is turning mistakes into opportunities. These changes of fortune are baked into the founding of our nation.
On July 3rd, 1777, the Continental Congress was sitting around doing what most congresses do during wartime—waiting for news. I’m sure it’s especially hard waiting for news when you know that if the news gets too bad, every single member of Congress is going to be hanged for treason.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the Congress resided when they did not have to flee to Baltimore or New York, is hot in the summer. You really need to have air conditioning. Despite Benjamin Franklin being struck by lightning 25 years earlier, they still did not have air conditioning.
I start with these excuses for our brave but flawed Continental Congressmen, because on July 3rd, 1777, the Continental Congress reached an inconvenient conclusion.
One member of Congress was in conversation with another. I assume the enlightened person was James Madison, because he often was. However, Madison was no longer in the Continental Congress. Reportedly, Madison would not buy whiskey for the men who voted for the members of Congress. So they kicked him out.
Anyway, let’s assume that the person of enlightenment was the brewer Samuel Adams, who approached Continental Congress President John Hancock. I don’t know what open container laws were like in 1777, but maybe Adams brought Hancock a beer. The two were sitting outside because, again, no air conditioning.
“Hey, wasn’t yesterday July 2nd?” Adams asked Hancock.
“Yes, I believe today is the 3rd,” Hancock said. “How come?”
“Well, last year, on July 2nd, we declared the United Colonies Free and Independent States,” Adams said.
Hancock sat with this for a minute. At first, it meant nothing to him, and then his eyes grew large.
“We forgot the first birthday of our nation?” Hancock asked.
“We forgot the first birthday of our nation,” Adams repeated.
“That’s not great,” Hancock said. I don’t mean to keep making excuses for these guys (we seem to have to do that a lot with our Founding Fathers), but apparently, Hancock suffered from gout and would leave Congress in October.
Adams decided to help the President out. “You know, we forgot Sam Jr.’s first birthday. We just celebrated a few days later. He didn’t even know.”
“Well, maybe we just celebrate Independence Day tomorrow,” Hancock said. “What happened on July 4th last year?”
“Jefferson, John Adams, Franklin and a couple of the other guys finished their letter of grievances to the king,” Adams offered.
“Oh yes,” Hancock lit up. “The Declaration of Independence! I signed my name on that!”
Adams didn’t say anything about how large Hancock’s signature was on that letter. “I’ll spread the word. We’ll celebrate these United States first birthday tomorrow on July 4th!”
In forgetting July 2nd, the date John Adams designated as our day of independence, we instead celebrate July 4th. Happy 250, America!
This story was inspired by a piece by historian Pauline Maier, Making Sense of the Fourth of July.