Peter de Bolla's THE FOURTH OF JULY and the First of July 1776

Was July 1 really America's Independence Day? Peter de Bolla, writing in The Fourth of July, offers a very different version of America's actual birthday:

"Many of those present recognized that by the end of Monday, July 1, 1776, the resolution was fait accompli. This was certainly the view of of the man who is said to have cast the first vote for independence, Josiah Bartlett, a physician from New Hampshire. He had written from Philadelphia to John Langdon on 1 July: 'The affair of Independency has been the day determined in a Committe of the Whole; by next post I expect you will receive a formal declaration of the reasons . . .' So a case could be mounted for proposing 1 July as the significant punctual moment, especially given the fact that notwithstanding the secrecy which surrounded the deliberations of the Committee of the whole, it would appear that the entire city was aware what was happening."

Historian Peter de Bolla Reveals the Truth Behind THE FOURTH OF JULY

In a new paperback edition released this month, author and historian Peter de Bolla explores the ritual and mythology of American Independence Day. The Fourth of July and the Founding of America traces the the holiday's history, from 1776 through the Civil War, the Cold War and the present.

Book Editor Colette Bancroft of the St. Petersburg Times takes note: "With July 4 coming up, a new book looks at the nation's past. The Fourth of July and the Founding of America: The Shocking Truth Behind the Birth of Our Country (Overlook) by Peter de Bolla is a historian's take on what the holiday really represents. Think it commemorates the day the Declaration of Independence was signed? Think again!"

Independence Days: George F. Will on THE FOURTH OF JULY by Peter de Bolla

George F. Will looks back on these days in 1776, and at Peter de Bolla's new book The Fourth of July and the Founding of America:

"Peter de Bolla of King's College, Cambridge is fascinated by Americans' fascination with the fact, such as it is, that their country had, as few nations can claim, an "originative moment." But what, and when, was it? The Declaration of Independence was not signed that day by the 56 persons whose signatures would eventually adorn it. Perhaps no one signed it that day; the evidence is murky. Still, uncountable millions believe otherwise because they have seen John Trumbull's painting, in the U.S. Capitol's rotunda, depicting Thomas Jefferson, at the center of six colleagues, holding "his" Declaration on July 4, as though for signing. That Congress actually did that day was agree to print and publish the Declaration authorized two days earlier. So, was July 2 what de Bolla calls the "punctual moment"? John Adams thought that day "will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America." That was voted on July 2 was, however, really decided on July 1. But on June 28, Congress considered Jefferson's draft of the Declaration, so was the die then cast? Or was it cast on June 10, when Congress voted that "a committee be appointed to prepare a declaration"?

The Declaration was first actually declared -- read aloud to a crowd (at the State House, now Independence Hall) -- on July 8. De Bolla says that unlike certain events, such as an earthquake or the beheading of a monarch, the birth of a nation has "a different kind of temporality," one constructed as a tradition. This is true even of the United States, which did not, like Germany and France, emerge over millennia from history's mists.

Fifty years later, less than two months before his (and John Adams's) death on July 4, 1826, Jefferson was determinedly protective of his reputation as "author" (he directed his tombstone to declare this) of the Declaration. Still, he candidly acknowledged that it "was intended to be an expression of the American mind," not "aiming at originality of principle or sentiment." Hence, "all its authority rests then on the harmonizing sentiments of the day."

What de Bolla calls "the intricate history of the nation's founding document" does not and should not inhibit Americans from asserting the truth that their nation originated on July 4, 1776. They hold that to be a self-evident truth, which means they have decided to believe it, thereby making it a self-validating tradition. So there."

5 Things You Never Knew About THE FOURTH OF JULY and the Founding of America:

Ready for some historical fireworks? Then you should check out Peter de Bolla's lively and informative new book on our national holiday, The Fourth of July. Did you know:

1) The Fourth of July doesn’t mark the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but Congress’s agreement to print and publish it.

2) John Adams was sure the Second of July, when the Declaration in its accepted form was presented to Congress, would be the day generations of Americans celebrated as the most important day in the history of America.

3)The Liberty Bell was cast three times. The first bell cracked upon being rung, the second had a tinny ring to it. The crack that developed in the third could not be fixed, and it was last rung in 1846.

4) The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 and first read: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.” It has been revised and edited ever since. It was officially designated “The Pledge of Allegiance” in 1945.

5)“Uncle Sam” was a real man, Samuel Wilson, who worked as a meat inspector. The initials U.S. on a cask of Army provisions he was inspecting were thought to refer to Sam’s nickname, and from that mistake the tradition of government property being referred to as the property of “Uncle Sam” was born.