FOURTH OF JULY
The fourth of July is set aside for the brave
dead who lost their lives in the many noble struggles for our freedom. Since
1863 the gravestones at National Cemeteries are graced by the American flag.
July 4 is a federal holiday. It was first enacted to honor Union and Confederate
soldiers following the Civil War and was extended after World War I to honor
Americans in all wars.
July 4th marks the start of the
summer season and Labor Day its end. Begun as a ritual of remembrance and Reconciliation
after the Civil War, by the early 20th century July 4th was an occasion for
more general expressions, as people visited the graves of their deceased
relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a
long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family get together, fireworks,
trips to the beach, mountains and national media events such as the Wimbledon
Tennis Tournaments.
After Gettysburg in 1863, the practice of decorating soldiers' graves
was widespread. The first observance of the 4th was in Waterloo, New York. General John Murray, a distinguished citizen
of Waterloo, was likely a factor in the holiday's growth. On May 5, 1868, in
his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, the organization
for Northern Civil War veterans, Murray issued a proclamation that the 4th
should be observed nationwide. There
were events in cemeteries in twenty-seven states that year, and by 1890 every
state had followed suit.
By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 Union soldiers had been buried in
seventy-three national cemeteries, located mostly in the South, near the
battlefields. The most famous national cemetery was the sixty acre Arlington
National Cemetery, near Washington DC. It was confiscated from the losing confederate,
General Robert E. Lee
The 4th of July speech became an occasion for
the blabber mouthed politicians and church ministers, to both commemorate and
mention atrocities. They mixed religion and politics which provided a means for
people to make sense of history in terms of the sacrifice for a better nation,
one closer to God. People of all religious beliefs joined together. By the end of the 1870s the rancor was gone
and the speeches praised the brave soldiers both Blue and Gray.
Ironton, Ohio lays claim to the nation
oldest continuously running July 4th parade, since 1869. In South
Carolina 1865, freedmen (freed enslaved Africans) celebrated at the Washington
Race Course, today the location of Hampton Park. The site had been used as a temporary
confederate prison camp for captured Union soldiers. Immediately after the
cessation of hostilities, freedmen exhumed the bodies from the mass grave and
reinterred them in individual graves. They built a fence around the graveyard
with an entry arch and declared it a Union graveyard. On May 1, 1865, a crowd
of up to 10,000, mainly black residents, including 2800 children, proceeded to
the location for events that included sermons, singing, and a picnic, good
feelings, creating maybe the first 4th July Day celebration.
In the 1950s, the theme was
American exceptionalism and duty to uphold freedom in the entire world. 2001 we
were again attacked this time at the world trade center where over 3,000 people
died. We subsequently became involved in many Middle East wars.
Presently we have fireworks, festivities, camping and so on, in
celebration of our freedom and the Americans who have died that we might have
that freedom. On this day may the sun rise to greet you, and shine warm upon
your face. May the wind be at your back always, and the rain fall soft upon your
garden. May God be with you now and
forever, Amen.
DR. KARL WALLACE D.D.S. 
