Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1905-07-06
THE REAL FOURTH OF JULY.

Paul Leland Haworth IN Harper'S for July.
On the Sd of July, 1776, John
Adams, then one of the represen-
tatives OF Massachusetts, in the
Continental Congress, wrote to
his wife Abigail.
yesterday the greatest ques-
ton was decided which was ever
debated in America, and a great
er perhaps never was nor will be
among men,"
In a second letter, written the
same day, he said:
''But the day is past. The I'd
of July will be the most memoir
able epocha in the history of
America. / am apt to believe
that it will be celebrated by sue
ceeding generations as the great
anniversary festival. 1t ought to
be commemorated as the dav OF
deliverance by solemn acts of de-
votiou to God Almighty. 1t
oughtto be solemnized with pomp
and parade, with shows, games,
sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and
illuminations, from one end of
this continent to the other, from
this time forward, for evermore. :"
The weighty decision. the news
of which John Adams thus con-
veyed with such commendable
promptness to his wife, had not
been reached without much
searching of hearts. The Ameri-
can colonists had not rebelled
against Great Britain in order to
secure their independence. They
had a deep reverence and a sim
cere love for the British Empire;
they took a personal pride in its
power and its glory; they looked
to it for aid and protection;-in a
word they had much the same
feeling toward it as Canada and
Australia have to-day. They re-
belled because their rights as
Englishmen had been infringed
ppon by the acts of an indifferent
Parliament and tyraunical king,
not because they wished to set up
an independent state; and it was
only after failure Of all attempts
at an equitable settlement of the
difficulties that the colonists were
driven to the step of declaring
their complete and final separa-
ton from the British nation.
It is not too much to say that
up to the battle of Concord and
Lexington there were but few, if
any, men in America who wished
for separation. Statements upon
the subject by prominent leaders
bear out this assertion. George
Washington wrote in October,
1774, that ''no such thing" as in
dependence sis desired by any
thinking man in all North Amer
ica." Benjamin Franklin assured
the Earl of Chatham in the fol-
lowing March that he had never
heard in "any conversation from
any person, drunk or sober, any
expression in favor of indepen.
dcnce.' Thirty-seven days before
tie war began John Adams pub
,zished in Boston, THAT there
are any who pant after indepen-
lence is the greatest slander or
the province Years after the
Revolution Thomas Jefferson de-
elared that before the 10Th o1
April ITS, Il had never heard q
whisper of disposition to sepa
rate from Great Britain" The
blood spilled on Lexington
Green originated the first strong
lesire for separation. Even ther
here was no Immediate, unani
nous movement in favor Of indie.
pendence.
1t was not until the month o
April, I776, that official actor
looking toward definite separa
ton began torbe taken by towns
counties, and colonies. Nortl
Carolina was the first colony di
rectly to empower her delegate
to vote for. independence. Thi
was done in April. In the follow
inu month the people of MaSSa