To commemorate the United States’ mid-summer festivities, I thought it would be fun to look back at how Scott County has celebrated the fourth of July in years past. This history of Independence Day celebrations is interesting due to how little the holiday has changed throughout time. In a July 3rd, 1776 letter from John to Abagail Adams, John expressed his hopes that the occasion should be commemorated “with Pomp and Parade, with Shews [shows], Games, Sports, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” Even in the late 1700s, novelty fireworks were widely available to the public, with one vendor listing his pyrotechnic wares as “rockets, serpents, wheels, table rockets, cherry trees, fountains, and sun flowers.”
A notice in the Belle Plaine Herald from about a hundred years after Adams, June 27th 1894, told of a gathering that would not have been out of place on a fourth of July today. “A Grand Celebration” including a “large platform on which music will be furnished for dancing purposes”. Sports of the day included foot racing, sack racing, horse racing and pony racing. Finally, of course, the event finished off with a “Grand display of fireworks”. In 1988, more then 200 years after John wrote to Abigail, New Prague celebrated the fourth with fireworks and music from the band “East Side Pharaohs”, mirroring celebrations from years past.
Independence day in Scott County has not only been influenced by the United States, but by broader global events. On the sunset of World War 1, July 4th 1919, the Shakopee Argus Tribune published an article entitled “Freedom All Over The Earth: The Due Recognition of Human Rights now the Aim of Mankind”. As a counter to global war, the article expressed worthy sentiments such as “One hundred two score and three years ago the federation of the thirteen colonies into a federal union was a political event of prime import. Today that goal is overshadowed by by that great thing of which Tennyson dreamed: the federation of the world” The article explains that with the age of European monarchs in the past, it was time to forgo nationalism and for every country to work together towards a better global future. The piece ends with this noble ideal:
“On July 4th 1776 the liberty bell rang out in order to proclaim liberty throughout all the land and to unite the inhabitants thereof. Suppose that on another July fourth it were permitted to raise it’s cracked and wheezy voice to do a far nobler thing: proclaim liberty and an end to oppression and suffering all over the world! Where is the man who would not wish to live in this world? Let all the peoples of the world send a representative to meet. Let them create and sign a nobler document that that which our forefathers signed… That document will enable all people to stand against the oppression of autocratic spoilers. It will assert solidarity of all that stand for freedom and love their fellow men. It will set forth a growing sense of human brotherhood”
Unfortunately for the planet, and the writer of this article, by the 1940s the US was once again at war. This was reflected in the independence day celebrations of the time. The 1943 Shakopee Tribune encouraged readers to visit Minneapolis to celebrate the fourth of July. The holiday was a week-long event featuring “Fifty thousand marchers, scores of floats, bands, and drum corps”. The primary aim, according to the promoters, was to “build morale and sell war bonds”. By 1946, Jordan was recognizing the fourth with a “welcome home to WW2 veterans”.
During the Vietnam war, Independence day once again inspired musings on American ideals. On July 3rd, 1978, the Shakopee Valley Tribune published a letter to the editor, that was written as if it were to Richard Cox, who was killed while serving with the ninth Marine Amphibious brigade in Vietnam. The letter is from the mother of one of Richard’s close friends. She writes, ” Has death and war become as ordinary as drinking coffee? Your mother will receive a gold pin, but touching the pin and feeling the insignia are not the same as as touching the features and warmth of your son… Dick, thank you. You are at peace. When will we be?”
Outside of wars, political and social issues of the times are reflected in Independence day newspaper commentary. On June 20th, 1910, the Belle Plaine Herald published an incredibly charming story about Gloria West who, since the age of 5, had been “imbued with a patriotic feeling and reverence for the constitution of this country”. As Gloria grows older, she is harangued by suitors who want her hand. Her sister tells her that she is being too picky, bit Gloria refuses to be swayed. One fourth of July, she invites all of 6 “most ardent” suitors to a reading of the Declaration of Independence. There, she makes them sign her own declaration of independence, declaring that she will be her own woman. Eventually, one of her suitors creates his own document- a constitution recognizing her independence and proposing a “more perfect union” between them. In additional to being adorable, this tale clearly displays a changing attitude towards womens’ roles that was taking place during the early 1900s.
Today, Independence is a chance to get together with family and friends, eat, chat, and enjoy some pyrotechnics. It is also a good time to pause and think about what it means to be an American.
Written by Rose James, SCHS Program Manager