CWRT-- Part 10: Significance of the Civil War Today

While they are aware of the popular image of CWRTs as a bunch of guys  sitting around and rehashing old battles, they are keenly aware of the relevance of studying the events of a war that ended almost 160 years ago.

"Most of us have an interest in military history, but many of the issues still facing us today had their roots in the outcome of the Civil War, according to David Byrnes.  "The consolidation and growth of the central government, the 'culture wars' and diversity, equality and inclusion, interpretations of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution -- these were all raised and not necessarily settled during that conflict.  

"It's more than just retelling battles."

--Old Secesh

Happy July 2-- Part 7: The Opportunity to Grow Thanks to the July 2 Resolution

Gradually, the newer reading of the declaration as a document for equality "became the primary meaning that we remember today."

The virtue of the declaration, the debated definitions and practices of freedom, prosperity and fair government, shared internationally on July 4th, have taken on new life thanks to the independence declared on July 2.

David Hargrove, of Summerville, South Carolina, was visiting Chicago with his family.  On Wednesday, he was going to head back home, just in time for the Fourth.  And while he considers himself a bit of a fun-fact "buff," he had not heard of America's July 2 resolution.

He still plans to celebrate Independence Day the way he always does, on July 4 with a cookout and card games.  "Being an American, I still strive for those goals of protecting my family, prospering, being happy and having the opportunity to grow," he said.  "That's what I look at the American dream as and the Fourth of July as, celebrating that opportunity to grow."

Just An American.  --Old Yankee Doodle Dandy

Happy July 2-- Part 6: But What Does This Mean to the Slave?

Continued from today's posts on my Running the Blockade:  Civil War Navy blog.

After the War of 1812, this ushered in a new era for the Declaration of Independence as anti-slavery activists began using the rhetoric of the second sentence, "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Right" to advocate that there should be true equality and no slavery.

In a July 5, 1852, address commemorating the 76th anniversary of the declaration's public release, Frederick Douglas reflected on the July 2 resolution,  "Citizens, your fathers made good that resolution.  They succeeded; and today you reap the fruits of their success."  he asked,  "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?  I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all the other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim."

--Old Secesh

Happy July 2nd-- Part 1: John Adams Sees Into the Future.

This was the day that John Adams predicted that Independence Day would be celebrated.  But, he was wrong.

From the July 4, 2019, Chicago Tribune  "John Adams predicted an Independence Day on July 2 but fate interceded" by Bianca Sanchez.

"On July 3, 1776, the day after the Second Continental Congress voted on a resolution to declare independence from the British, John Adams sent a letter to his wife, Abigail, back home in Massachusetts.  In the letter, the Founding Father prophesied a grand celebration  of America's independence.

" 'It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other from this time forward forever more,' he wrote expectantly."

Well, this is what has been happening since last Saturday.  Only, he was thinking all this would occur on July 2, not July 4 as it turned out to be.

--Old Rebel (Because That's What They Were.  Rebels.  Someone Else Was Called Rebels during the Civil War.)

About Gen. Meade's Spurs-- Part 4: From the Estate of George Gordon Meade Easby

The spurs going up at auction belonged to George Gordon Meade Easby, the general's grandson.  He was a major art and antique collector, who inherited more than 100,000 antiques and personal items which had been in his family for centuries.

These items included items of the Meades as well as utensils used by the Founding Fathers during the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Many of those items have been on loan at times to the White House.

--Old Secesh

Would the Confederacy Have Celebrated the Fourth of July?

From the July 3, 2014, Atlantic.

Back in 1861, a reporter for the New York Times, on the first July 4th since the beginning of the war, described it thus:  "It is like the anniversary of a divorced couple's wedding."  I can definitely agree with that.

In a 2009 paper in the Journal of Southern History, historian Paul Quigley wrote that while some Southerners were conflicted with celebrating the holiday, the acknowledgement of the significance of the day continued.

In Charleston, S.C., in 1861, a committee of five decided the "public procession, solemn oration, and political language ought to be omitted on the present occasion," but offices would be closed.

Even before the war, the meaning of the Fourth of July was changing.  In the North, the abolitionists used the declaration's language of freedom to call for an end to slavery.  In the South, secessionists used the language of willful rebellion to call for a new country, insisting that the North had not lived up to the Declaration of Independence's promise.

I'll Shoot Off the Fireworks Anyway.  Maybe Just Aim Them Northward.  --Old Secesh