Happy Insurgency Day!

aka Happy Fourth of July!

It’s been a while since I’ve shared something here, and though I have several drafts almost ready, I wanted to get this out. Today is the Fourth of July, which we Americans call our Independence Day, even if another day would be more appropriate.¹ I typically reply to Happy Fourth of July messages from my British friends, like one such an annual group email from a retired Royal Navy officer, with, “Happy Insurgency Day!” There was this one time I took it further.

Around ten years ago, I was part of a “small council” assembled by a UK Ministry of Defence official at Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk. A topic was messaging around the withdrawal of UK forces from Afghanistan. One Brit said there might be difficulty since Great Britain “had never lost an insurgency.” As the American in the room, I raised my hand and remarked, “I can think of one.” There was a pause, and the conversation moved on without comment.²

Photo credit: Matt Armstrong, taken at Edinburgh Castle, 24 October 2015.

When we lived in London, our kids attended British schools. I asked them to tell me what they were taught about the War of Independence. The subject never came up in their few years of schooling there. In the larger scheme of things, as my British friends and British parents of my kids’ classmates noted, the conflict over in the colonies was just one in a series of fights waged by Great Britain and not one that was particularly unique or interesting to their long history. It was merely “The War of American Independence 1776-83.”³

Today is a time of celebration, but it should also be a time of reflection. I now live in Boston and get to visit and experience the local and regional landmarks and memories of events of nearly 250 years ago. When those are juxtaposed with activities today, it’s very concerning. For those who claim to be engaged in a Second American Revolution, they absolutely reject the vote of July 2, 1776, and all that was fought for and way. See

Joyce Vance

and

Asha Rangappa

for discussions on that.

For now, Happy Fourth of July! Be safe, and don’t become a statistic.

1. We celebrate on July 4th because the document was post-dated. July 2nd is when the Continental Congress voted for independence. The Declaration was signed on August 2nd. Oddly, today is the only (?) day we Americans correctly place the day before the month. July 2, July 3, Fourth of July, July 5…

2. Today, with the move toward an Imperial Presidency, perhaps commentary and not silence would’ve followed.

3. We saw Hamilton in London, and when King George III appeared on stage, he received a more raucous and cheerful greeting than I was expecting.