Happy … Second of July?

Independence Day, wrote John Adams in a letter to his wife in 1776, should be celebrated July 2 — the day the Continental Congress voted in favor of it.

So why don’t we celebrate today? July 4 was when it was formally adopted. It’s also the date John Adams, as well as the Declaration of Independence’s primary author, Thomas Jefferson, died.

Celebrations haven’t changed much in two and a half centuries. In the same letter Adams wrote that Independence Day should be celebrated with “pomp and parade … games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”

And so it was. Bands played. Picnics abounded. Canons and muskets fired into the air as public officials recited the Declaration before rapt crowds. Now that we have fireworks, the bang is grander than those old muskets.

So central were America’s birthday celebrations to our new identity that for more than a century, July Fourth outpaced Christmas (then a much quieter, private affair). Thanks to interviews recorded by The Federal Writers’ Project in the 1930s and '40s, we have a good idea of what they looked like. 

The most-cited description was Nettie Spencer's, who grew up in rural Oregon in the 1870s. She called the Fourth “the big event of the year.”

“Everyone in the countryside got together on that day for the only time in the year," Spencer said. “The new babies were shown off, and the new brides who would be exhibiting babies next year. Everyone would load their wagons with all the food they could haul and come to town early in the morning.

“There would be floats in the morning and sometimes the driver wore an Uncle Sam hat and striped pants. All along the sides of the hayrack were little girls who represented the states of the union … The one (float) that got the eye was the Goddess of Liberty. She was supposed to be the most wholesome and prettiest girl in the countryside.

“Just before lunch … some senator or lawyer would speak. These speeches always had one pattern. First the speaker would challenge England to a fight and berate the King and say that he was a skunk. This was known as twisting the lion's tail.

“Then the next theme was that anyone could find freedom and liberty on our shores. The speaker would invite those who were heavy laden in other lands to come to us and find peace.

“In the afternoon we had what we called the 'plug uglies' — funny floats and clowns who took off on the political subjects of the day. The Fourth was the day of the year that really counted then.”

Cheers to the spirit of Independence Day, and America’s enduring affection for celebrating it. Have fun and stay safe.

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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network who likes the sound of “plug uglies.” Email Sholeh@cdapress.com.