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Happy Independence day
4th July is the most significant national holiday in the United States. It celebrates the Declaration of Independence, adopted on 4th July, 1776. The Thirteen Colonies of America declared themselves to be states and no longer part of the British Empire, though the revolutionary war continued for some time after that.
While the relationship between the settlers and British was once amicable, tensions began to escalate over British laws and taxes, such as the Sugar Act, driven by British financial needs. There was also a growing sense of nationalism in the country.
These ill feelings escalated with a series of events which culminated in 1775 when the war of independence against Britain was declared.
When the initial battles broke out in April 1775, few colonists desired complete independence from Great Britain, and those who did were considered radical. By the middle of the following year, however, many more colonists favoured total independence, thanks to growing hostility against Britain and the spread of revolutionary sentiments such as those expressed in Thomas Paine’s bestselling pamphlet “Common Sense,” published in early 1776.
When writing this article and re-reading the history of the American Independence from Great Britain, analogies came to mind with the current UK situation and the recently declared "Independence" from the European Union and I don't feel the bickering and recriminations are helping us at all at the moment.
To our cousins across the pond and here in the UK I hope you all have a brilliant day with your families, friends and loved ones.
We still do love you ;-)
To the Brexiteers and the Remainers, one quote comes to mind:
"The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics, whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were, and ask why not". John F. Kennedy.
Happy 4th of July!
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