What you believe about the 4th of July isn't true! You might think that independence was declared on the fourth of July. You might even believe that the 4th is the day the Declaration of Independence was signed. I am sure you might have always heard that the Liberty Bell was used to usher in such noble independence. Furthermore, you probably believe Betsy Ross sewed the first flag. Lastly, you may already know that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the fourth of July. Most people may be fuzzy on the exact details but most of this general stuff we can typically agree on. Do you always follow the herd? Does it wound your confidence to go against the grain? Well all those preceeding statements are wrong!
#1 Independence Was Declared on the Fourth of July. America's independence was actually declared by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. The night of the second the Pennsylvania Evening Post published the statement: "This day the Continental Congress declared the United Colonies Free and Independent States." The real deal... So what happened on the Glorious Fourth? The document justifying the act of Congress-you know it as Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence-was adopted on the fourth, as is indicated on the document itself, which is, one supposes, the cause for all the confusion. As one scholar has observed, what has happened is that the document announcing the event has overshadowed the event itself.
#2 The Declaration of Independence was signed July 4. Hanging in the grand Rotunda of the Capitol of the United States is a huge canvas painting by John Trumbull depicting the signing of the Declaration. Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams wrote, years afterward, that the signing ceremony took place on July 4. When someone challenged Jefferson's memory in the early 1800's Jefferson insisted he was right. The truth? As David McCullough remarks in his new biography of Adams, "No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia." The real deal...The truth about the signing was not resolved until 1884 when historian Mellon Chamberlain, researching the manuscript minutes of the journal of Congress, came upon the entry for August 2 noting a signing ceremony. As for Benjamin Franklin's statement, which has inspired patriots for generations, "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall hang separately" … well, there's no proof he ever made it. Meanwhile there was more than enough hanging going on.
#3 The Liberty Bell Rang in American Independence. As you now know now, this event did not happen on the fourth. So did it happen at all? It's a famous scene. A young boy with bond hair and blue eyes was supposed to have been posted in the street next to Independence Hall to give a signal to an old man in the bell tower when independence was declared. It never happened. The story was made up out of whole cloth in the middle of the nineteenth century by writer George Lippard in a book intended for children. The book was aptly titled, Legends of the American Revolution. There was no pretense that the story was genuine. But things are often construed as truth when they were far from or never intended to be so literal.
#4 Betsy Ross Sewed the First Flag. A few blocks away from the Liberty Bell is the Betsy Ross House. The real deal...There is no proof Betsy lived here, as the Joint State Government Commission of Pennsylvania concluded in a study in 1949. Poor Betsy. In her day she was just a simple unheralded seamstress. Now the celebrators won't leave her alone. A few years ago they even dug up her bones where they had lain in a colonial graveyard for 150 years, so she could be buried again beneath a huge sarcophagus located on the grounds of the house she was never fortunate enough to have lived in.
So who sewed the first flag? No one knows. But we do know who designed it. It was Frances Hopkinson. Records show that in May 1780 he sent a bill to the Board of Admiralty for designing the "flag of the United States."
#5 John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Died on the Fourth of July. Ok, this is true. On July 4, 1826, Adams and Jefferson both died, exactly fifty years after the adoption of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, which the country took as a sign of American divinity. But there is no proof that Adams, dying, uttered, "Jefferson survives," which was said to be especially poignant, as Jefferson had died just hours before. Mark that up as just another hoary story we wished so hard were true we convinced ourselves it is.
Adapted from the History News Network
Friday Fixins and Sippins! Ok let's start with the sippin's, since that will make all the rest better.
Fire Crackers
1 1/2 oz Tequila
Cracked ice
Tonic water
Lime wedge
Pour tequila over the ice in a highball glass. Fill with tonic. Stir and garnish with lime wedge.
Star Spangled Jello Shooters
4 c Package Jello*
2 c Boiling water
2 c Liquor** *Any flavor. * *86 or 100 proof--don't use 151, any type.
Dissolve the Jello in the boiling water and let it cool. Add the liquor. Pour about 1/8 to 1/4 cup into little paper cups and chill. Squeeze the whole cupful into your mouth--no spoons or partial servings! Vodka is the usual first choice, but rum is really good too.
4th of July Lemonade
1 part Jack Daniel's bourbon
1 part triple sec
1 part sweet-and-sour mix
4 parts lemon-lime soda.
Combine all ingredients and serve this refreshing drink over ice.
Independence Day Punch
26 oz Rye 2
Bottles sherry
3 Bottles ginger ale
2 Whole oranges -- sliced
Pour 2 bottles of the ginger ale into a bundt pan and add some of the orange slices. Freeze and use as ice ring as it doesn't dilute the punch when it melts. Punch does become smoother as the ring melts. Put orange slices in the punch bowl and add other ingredients. (You may wish to have one more bottle of ginger ale to make the ice ring.)
Hair Raiser
1/3 part Anisette
1/3 part Brandy
1/3 part Triple Sec
Shake well. Serve drink in a shot glass
For a most incredible treat: Red, White, and Blue Ice Cream Cake Recipe for Fourth of July at Epicurious.com http://bit.ly/b7fnu5
Strawberry Smiles
Plump red ripe berries
Atop the sweetest of dishes
Smiles melting frowns up.
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