July 4th Who Cares?  

Why are Americans so interested in this date?  

They would have us believe it is as important as Thanksgiving or Christmas.  

Fireworks and parties will peak on the 4 July. Why?

Do you wonder why there is not such enthusiasm in Britain?

What is the big deal about 4 July?

Declaration.

This was the date when the 13 British colonies in America united to declare their independence from the British crown.

The Declaration of Independence was signed by a small group of colonists who became known as The Founding Fathers.

Details of this Declaration are available elsewhere. Since most of the men signing were British, what was their problem?

War in Europe.

While the distant rumblings of rebellion in the American colonies were heard in London, Britain had its own military problems with the traditional enemies France Spain and the Dutch. 

These had plans to invade and capture London. Problems of Pennsylvania were a long way away. 

King George the Third planned to deal with this European menace before turning attention to the rebelling colonies.

In those days the English kings had military control over their army.  Approval by Parliament was only needed if the King needed cash.

He needed to be careful to keep the substantial number of colonial loyalists on the English side. The rebels did not have universal support  in America but did  have a surprising amount of support in England.

Use the Royal  Navy.

He proposed to use the Royal Navy to harass the coastal shipping routes, and attack the Spanish and French in the Caribbean and West Indies.

He also planned to encourage the Native Americans into attacking the various frontier posts inland. The military picture was fairly clear.

Feeding Resentment.

Politically the colonists felt their complaints were being ignored by London. They felt an air of repression and subjugation by a distant power. They wanted more influence over decisions made by distant bureaucrats.

Irritating matters such a every day carrying of firearms were controlled or forbidden. Imagine a farmer bringing up his family in some remote region. He needs self defence.  

In modern terms there was no feedback.

Colonial resentments grew to climax at the famous Boston Tea Party.

This was a fairly minor matter in response to a new tax imposed on tea by London.  It was a famous last straw that broke the camel’s back.   'No taxation without representation ‘ was the cry. 

What happened to produce such a decisive moment?

When this War of American Revolution started, Britain had thirteen colonies on that part of the American continent.

Simultaneously Britain was either at war or covertly with the French, Spanish, and the Dutch. These European nations had their own different reasons for the same target. They were all trying to grab a piece of the New World and its riches.

War is expensive.

The French national debt was nearly £200 million, an unsustainable amount.

Half the French national income went on debt servicing costs. It became a major cause of the French Revolution since the French public would not approve further tax increases.

Competition  for the New World.

France was in dispute with Britain over territories in India, West Africa and the Caribbean.

The Dutch economy was based on trade. They were developing their profitable East Indian spice trading activities, which they wished to consolidate and protect.  

Spain did not encourage anti-colonial uprisings, being sensitive of their own colonial problems.

But they wanted Gibraltar and Minorca back, and in the Caribbean they had hopes of capturing Jamaica and other lesser islands.

Saratoga.

Most of this hostility was under cover until the Battle of Saratoga.

Here an entire British column under General Burgoyne was forced to surrender while waiting for reinforcements from the New York column under General Howe.

The reason was typical of the command and control problems of the times. Any message sent from Britain took at least two weeks to arrive in America.

General Howe did not receive his instructions to support Burgoyne but had sailed to recapture Philadelphia, the centre of the rebel government.  Burgoyne had received his telling him to expect Howe’s arrival.

The story is the civil servant concerned with sending the Howe message; put it in his pocket while he went off for the weekend.

The message ship sailed from Portsmouth without the message.  

The Saratoga surrender came at just the right time to encourage the flagging enthusiasm of the rebels.

It encouraged the French to be more openly in support of the rebels. This was the first important defeat of a British army in battle for a long time.

It stimulated the others.

Spain joined with France. Galvez, Spanish Governor of Louisiana, captured the Royal Navy base at New Providence in the Bahamas. 

 He went on to capture Royal Navy posts on the Mississippi of Natchez, Baton Rouge and Manchac.

The Indian ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan was encouraged by the French to rise up in rebellion.

The fourth Dutch War began as a British reaction to Dutch aid to the rebels. But within four years the world wide Dutch trading economy had been destroyed.

Yorktown Surrender.

A decisive action by the French navy against the Royal Navy occurred at Chesapeake Bay. Their naval blockage of a British relief column led directly to the British surrender at Yorktown. 

This surrender destroyed all political support for the King in London. It signified the end of the war.

The Treaty of Paris 1783 accepted a United States as extending from the Mississippi river to Florida up to Canada.      

Opening  of Trade.

Consequences were an opening of trade between the English colonies and the world. Spanish brandy became cheap and available in the new United States.

When you see Hollywood cowboys knocking back glasses and bottles of ‘whisky’, the real guys were drinking Spanish brandy.

The general opening of trade routes benefited many at the expense of Britain and its manufacturing base. 

Modern Consequences.

Other consequences include the impact of the various paragraphs on modern life.

The Declaration included the ‘right to bear arms.’ This was one of the original objections of the rebels. The right to bear arms in those days was the last resort of a citizen against tyranny in those in government.

Another section stated:

All men are created equal with unalienable rights including Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Europeans of the day did not include ‘happiness’ in their day to day thoughts of benefits. 

Some of those original thoughts have been much modified by modern lifestyles. The right to bear arms causes major problems for modern life.

Pursuit of happiness has come to mean ‘I can do what I like.’ But maybe that is the price of progress?

It all started on 4 July 1776.

DOUG R. (England)