history – Deanna Repose Oaks

Lately, I’ve felt more disconnected from history than ever before. Researching historical facts keeps pushing me further and further into a rabbit hole of “what else don’t I know” … I started to think history books were rewritten somehow. Turns out, it might just be the Mandela Effect.

My example: “The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776.” I picked this “fact” because I felt it cannot be refuted – right? The document is dated. In INK. For the past 247 years, Americans have celebrated Independence Day on July 4th, acknowledging our Declaration of Independence as the bearer of freedom from tyranny.

But was the Declaration of Independence SIGNED on that day? Nope! The actual copy with signatures wasn’t even approved to be “fairly engrossed on parchment” (https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-history) until July 19, 1776! Then, the handwritten Declaration wasn’t signed until August 2, 1776, and by that time The American Revolutionary War had already been raging for a year and a half – a year and a half!! The Revolutionary War started via the “shot heard around the world” on April 19, 1775, not after the Declaration was completed in 1776. (https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/lexington-and-concord-shot-heard-round-world)

So, what exactly happened on July 4, 1776? The wording and text of the Declaration of Independence was RATIFIED by 12 of the 13 states attending the Continental Congress. Immediately following (the same day), copies were printed with the date of July 4, 1776, and distributed for a vote.

So, every year on Independence Day, we celebrate the RATIFICATION and first PRINTING of the Declaration of Independence, NOT the signing of the handwritten document or the sending off the Declaration to England.

Every 4 years we the people are granted the right to revolution, and we have voted for revolution 46 times. 45 different people graced the office of President of the United States – all with differing views and policies. They have all changed our country with a mixture of good and bad – even William Henry Harrison, who only served 31 short days, had an impact. We must look at Presidents, past and present, and remember they were/are human, they have made/are making mistakes, and even our favorite past Presidents were not perfect in their day. All Presidents were criticized for the job they were doing, or not doing, depending upon who was criticizing. We must remember if we don’t like who is in office, we are lucky enough to have the ability to change leaders every 4 years.

My recent trip to Magic Kingdom at Disney World was a great reminder of the revolutions the United States has endured, as the Hall of Presidents attraction features Audio-Animatronics replicas of every President of the United States. Seeing them all at once, together, makes it hard to not realize how lucky we are to have the ability to elect our leaders. We can (and have) revolutionize(d) our country every time we vote.

History Book Blues

Celebrating Presidents’… Day