The Fourth of July is one of the great national days of the United States. Not the only one, of course, they have more than the British. Maybe it’s because of this parsimony that the Americans fought to throw off the British yoke. It was nothing to do with tea or taxes, they just wanted more holidays than King George would allow them.
It actually marks the day when The United States Declaration of Independence was adopted. There was much hard fighting before the British finally gave up. And it’s been a day of celebration in the USA ever since.
But it’s not the only independence day – far from it.
In 1187 CE Saladin defeated Guy, King of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin. Saladin went on to reconquer Jerusalem but not before chopping off the head of Guy’s henchman Raynald of Châtillon. The film Kingdom of Heaven is a mixture of fact and fiction but this part is fairly accurate. I was cynical at the scene where ordinary men were made knights in a vain attempt to defend the city. I thought it was a Hollywood conceit but when I checked, I found it was true. I wrote my book Outcasts about what happened to these men after the city had fallen.
There are many more events on the fourth of July which focus on the two-sided coin of independence with its winners and losers. Thirty-two years before the Declaration of Independence, the Iroquois ceded lands to the British colonists. Half a century later slavery was abolished in the state of New York. In 1879 the British defeated the Zulu army at the Battle of Ulundi, proving conclusively that Gatling Guns were more lethal weapons than cowhide shields and assegais. King Cetshwayo was forced to flee and that was the end of an independent Zululand.
In 1946, almost four hundred years after they were colonised by the Spanish, the Philippines gained full independence from the USA. The following year, the British Parliament began to debate the Indian Independence Bill.
And on a more personal note, on July 4 1954 food rationing ended in Britain, with the lifting of restrictions on sale and purchase of meat. Rationing began early in World War II, and lasted 14 years, almost a decade after the end of the war.
It’s a personal note because yours truly was born a month and a half after the end of rationing. I celebrated my arrival into this non-rationed country with a Chateaubriand steak, a bottle of champagne, a packet of Chocolate Buttons and a rather messy nappy.
The great comedian, actor and writer Eric Sykes died on 4 July 2012.
I saw him in a shop in Bayswater only a week or so before and almost said how much I enjoyed his work. I was too embarrassed to do so which I regret. He was buying stationery.
And today, the fourth of July 2024 is the British General Election.
Far be it for me to make a political comment but I shall quietly hint that I will be celebrating the end of Tory misrule -perhaps with a Chateaubriand steak, a bottle of champagne and a packet of Chocolate Buttons.
I'll join you with the chocolate buttons :)
Bravo Martin, so will I!