And
yes, July 4, 1776, is the traditional date given for America's birth.
That is, after all, when the 13 American colonies formally declared
their independence from Britain. (Mind you, the Revolutionary War had
begun more than a year earlier, with the battles of Lexington and
Concord, and there had been more than 90 state and local
“declarations of independence” from Britain in the first half of
1776. Congress had also already passed a resolution urging states to
create their own, non-British, independent governments. The formal
declaration that we call THE Declaration of Independence was written
in June of 1776, but July 4 is the date when the American Congress
voted to adopt the Declaration. It wasn't actually signed until
August 2, and of course it took time to send copies to Europe,
including to Parliament and King George III!)
But
there is a good reason to count today as the true birthday of the
country, because this is the anniversary of the ratification of the
Treaty of Paris, in 1784. When Congress ratified the treaty, the
Revolutionary War was finally officially over, and the U.S. was
finally officially a self-governing nation.
I
guess we can all agree that it was a long and difficult birth!
Even
this ratification was a bit difficult...
The
Continental Congress was in session. Every delegate was in favor of
ratifying the peace treaty. People were delighted to declare the war
over and to go on with the business of governing the new nation.
So
why was the ratification difficult?
North
America was suffering from the coldest winter then on record, with
heavy snowfall in some areas, so delegates from only seven states had
managed to make it to the Continental Congress sessions. The rule was
that delegates from at least nine states had to agree to signing a
treaty. People discussed and discussed again what to do—whether or
not the British would feel that the Americans were “cheating” if
delegates from nine states hadn't ratified, whether or not the rule
even applied in this particular case, and what options there were to
fix the problem. Finally Congress settled on a compromise, a sort of
Plan A / Plan B, and they scheduled the vote even though there were
not enough delegates.
At
the last second, delegates from Connecticut and South Carolina
arrived, and delegates from nine states took the completely
above-board and legal vote to ratify the treaty. Whew—crisis
averted!
Also
on this date:
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