Happy July 2-- Part 2: Why the 4th and Not the 2nd?

John Adams correctly predicted a lot about how our nation's birthday would be celebrated, all these 243 years later.  But he was incorrect as to the day, which he figured would be July 2, the day the Congress voted on a resolution to form a new country out of British control.

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epocha, in the history of America, Adams wrote.  "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival."

So, our day of celebrations, not the six days before or two days after July 4, should actually have been celebrated this past Tuesday, not today on Thursday.  How did this come to be?  Why for two centuries has our country's birthday been celebrated on the 4th instead  of the 2nd?

Go to My Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy to Find Out Why on Part 3.  Also there you will find parts 4 and 5.  --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.)

General Adams' Flag in Bad Shape

From the July21, 2014, Daily Reporter "Battle of Franklin flag losing fight with time, donors seeking funds to save it."

FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE"  The Sons of Confederate Veterans are seeking $6500 to conserve a 2X3 foot flag last flown by Confederate General John Adams during the disasterous Battle of Franklin in Tennessee.

He, along with five other Confederate generals were killed there on November 30, 1864.

The flag was made by an unknown Mississippi woman in 1863 and served as Adams' headquarters flag, used to mark where his headquarters was located.

It was donated by Adams' widow to the Tennessee Historical Society in 1907.  It is kept today at the Tennessee State Museum.

It is made of wool and silk with its silk fringe deteriorating a lot in the last ten years.

--Old Secesh