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Good afternoon, and welcome to the inaugural article of Neovison Vison. Above all, happy Independence Day to all Americans.

IN THIS ISSUE

--ADAMS'S PREDICTION OF OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY
--'WHO IS THIS COLONEL WASHINGTON?'
--A CHARGE TO THE PRESIDENT-ELECT

All articles in this issue of Neovison Vison are written by Mink Deadly.
Volume I, Issue i. 4 July 2009.

ADAMS'S PREDICTION

The celebration of our Independence Day is a wonderful and hallowed event on July Fourth. Americans take to the streets to view parades, fry ground meat on huge grills and hork it down, flood fairs and make the fried dough and funnel cake vendors busy. Americans listen to the Star-Spangled Banner and watch veterans walk by with flags and solemn looks of grace.

But, the Fourth is a date shrouded in myth. Nearly all Americans believe that the Declaration of Independence was signed on the Fourth, when in fact, it wasn't! The day of our independence from Britain isn't July 4th, but instead, July 2nd.

Want proof? First, consult the History News Network of George Mason University's Top 5 Myths About the Fourth of July:

"America's independence was actually declared by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. The night of the second the Pennsylvania Evening Post published the statement: "This day the Continental Congress declared the United Colonies Free and Independent States."

So what happened on the Glorious Fourth? The document justifying the act of Congress-you know it as Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence-was adopted on the fourth, as is indicated on the document itself, which is, one supposes, the cause for all the confusion. As one scholar has observed, what has happened is that the document announcing the event has overshadowed the event itself.

When did Americans first celebrate independence? Congress waited until July 8, when Philadelphia threw a big party, including a parade and the firing of guns. The army under George Washington, then camped near New York City, heard the news July 9 and celebrated then. Georgia got the word August 10. And when did the British in London finally get wind of the declaration? August 30."

Don't believe that? Then you have no further to look than John Adams's letter to his wife, Abigail, dated 3 July 1776, where he writes:

"But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

Yet, this letter is not all it appears on the surface. Previous to this, Adams posits what would have happened if we declared our independence sooner:

"Had a Declaration of Independency been made seven Months ago, it would have been attended with many great and glorious Effects . . . . We might before this Hour, have formed Alliances with foreign States. -- We should have mastered Quebec and been in Possession of Canada .... You will perhaps wonder, how such a Declaration would have influenced our Affairs, in Canada, but if I could write with Freedom I could easily convince you, that it would, and explain to you the manner how. -- Many Gentlemen in high Stations and of great Influence have been duped, by the ministerial Bubble of Commissioners to treat .... And in real, sincere Expectation of this effort Event, which they so fondly wished, they have been slow and languid, in promoting Measures for the Reduction of that Province. Others there are in the Colonies who really wished that our Enterprise in Canada would be defeated, that the Colonies might be brought into Danger and Distress between two Fires, and be thus induced to submit. Others really wished to defeat the Expedition to Canada, lest the Conquest of it, should elevate the Minds of the People too much to hearken to those Terms of Reconciliation which they believed would be offered Us. These jarring Views, Wishes and Designs, occasioned an opposition to many salutary Measures, which were proposed for the Support of that Expedition, and caused Obstructions, Embarrassments and studied Delays, which have finally, lost Us the Province."

You might wonder, just what is Adams talking about? Well, he is referring to the Invasion of Canada, which began in August 1775. General Richard Montgomery captured the City of Montreal in November after Ethan Allen made an attempt to capture it in September. In December of 1775, Montgomery and Benedict Arnold made a charge on the City of Quebec, which was a disaster for the Americans.

However, American forces remained in control of Montreal until May of 1776, under General David Wooster. Initially, General Wooster kept up good relations with the community, but by the end of the campaign, with Quebec uncaptured and the army falling, and even Benjamin Franklin unable to convince the Quebecois that they should rally to our cause, American forces retreated to Fort Ticonderoga.

Back to Adams, of course. His letter to Mrs. Adams suggests that they should have made a declaration of independence NOT in July of 1776, but seven months later, in January of 1776. Here, Adams argues that a declaration of independence from Britain would have rallied the Canadians to our cause and assisted us in the conquest of Quebec. Adams here is suggesting that we would have owned Quebec, or at least the corridor of the St. Lawrence from Vermont up to Montreal and Quebec.

But, alas, our Independence Day is the Fourth, and not in January. We did not take Canada, but helped set the stage for their independence as well as ours. Interesting, though, what reading a simple correspondence between a husband and wife can reveal.

WHO IS THIS COLONEL WASHINGTON?

"The Day before, I dined with Mr. Lynch a Delegate from South Carolina, who, in conversation on the Unhappy State of Boston and its inhabitants, after some Observations had been made on the Eloquence of Mr. Patrick Henry and Mr. Richard Henry Lee, which had been very loudly celebrated by the Virginians, said that the most eloquent Speech that had ever been made in Virginia or any where else, upon American Affairs had been made by Colonel Washington. This was the first time I had ever heard the Name of Washington , as a Patriot in our present Controversy, I asked who is Colonel Washington and what was his Speech? Colonel Washington he said was the officer who had been famous in the late french War and was in in the Battle in which Braddock fell. His Speech was that if the Bostonians should be involved in Hostilities with the British Army he would march to their relief at the head of a Thousand Men at his own expence. This Sentence Mr. Lynch said, had more Oratory in it, in his judgment, than all that he had ever heard or read. We all agreed that it was both sublime, pathetic and beautifull."

A CHARGE TO THE PRESIDENT-ELECT

Candidates from different parties will square off to the voters of the eUSA on July 5th, and one of them will be elected to office. I charge that president to take the office in the spirit of our independence and the principles of our nation. I ask the president to remember the power of our standing in the world, and to preserve it at all costs. I implore the president, finally, to act as a unifier of our different politics, and to rally the eUSA around a common place in the eWorld.

LINKS

--Myths about the Fourth of July: http://hnn.us/articles/132.html
--Autobiography of John Adams, sheet 16 of 53, up to 1776: http://tinyurl.com/lswaq9
--Letter from John to Abigail, 3 July 1776: http://tinyurl.com/h8fgh

Close of the issue, 8:35 AM, 4 July 2009.