SSHHREEEEE! BOOM! AHHHH!
Up they flash into the night sky, bottle rockets, brocades, Roman candles, and Catherine wheels, exploding in the darkness to the delight of spectators, a glorious fountain of fireworks celebrating Independence Day. Besides serving unofficially as Pyrotechnics Day USA, the Fourth of July is also that midsummer holiday when families and friends gather for backyard barbecues, picnics, and potlucks, the kids dart around in the twilight while the adults relax with drinks in lawn chairs, and parades and concerts pay homage to American liberty.
We’ve come a long way since that first Independence Day 247 years ago. We’ve become a transcontinental nation and a world power. We’ve fought wars, pushed and failed and pushed again to establish justice for all, and given away vast portions of our wealth to other countries. We’ve exported everything from Levi’s jeans to Hollywood movies, served as a melting pot for untold millions of immigrants, and touched the surface of the moon.
That action-packed past covers a lot of ground, and America’s birthday seems the perfect time to learn more about it. Here are some ideas to help you get started.
Story Time
Outstanding books of American history and biography abound, but if you’re more oriented toward the world of imagination, you’ve got another treasure trove ready to give up its riches. Poke around online for the “best American historical fiction,” and you’ll be inundated with lists of titles and authors, from Michael Shaara’s Civil War novel “The Killer Angels” to Kathryn Stockett’s 1960s civil rights story “The Help” to Larry McMurtry’s Western saga “Lonesome Dove.”Some of these lists neglect older historical fiction. If your interest lies in America’s colonial and Revolutionary heritage, be sure to take a look at the works of Kenneth Roberts, whose well-researched novels, such as “Northwest Passage” and “Rabble in Arms,” bring that era to life. Betty Smith’s “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” and Willa Cather’s “O Pioneers!” recreate different but dramatic accounts of immigrant life in America in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Louis L’Amour’s many Westerns, again the product of devoted research, retain the power to whisk us off to the land of trailblazers and cowboys, while Raymond Chandler’s mysteries drop us down into mid-20th century Los Angeles.
Sing-Alongs
Road trips provide the opportunity to rummage through the American song bag, a sack of gold that reminds us that we’re a land as rich in music as we are in natural resources. The settlers trekking across the plains in covered wagons, the soldiers marching to battlefields with those peculiar American names such as Cowpens and Chickamauga, and the unemployed trudging through the Great Depression all kept up their spirits with music. Search for tunes on “songs of American history” or on sites such as AmericanMusicPreservation.com, and you’ll be joining your voice to theirs.The car also makes a perfect classroom to introduce the kids to this grand slice of Americana. If you get sleepy while driving, just crank up the volume and belt out a few tunes as you barrel down the highway.
Popcorn, Anyone?
Or maybe you’re in the mood for some movies focused on American history. Once again, the resources are inexhaustible, and many of these films should appeal to the whole family. If you’re fresh out of ideas, let your fingers do the walking and search online for “movies about American history.” Like with historical fiction, the choices seem almost endless. There are well-known pictures, such as “Saving Private Ryan” or the Revolutionary War movie “The Patriot.” Then there may be ones you’ve missed, such as 1960 Academy Award winner “How the West Was Won” or the story of composer and performer George M. Cohan in “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” in which Cohan is brilliantly portrayed by James Cagney.Archives and Old Papers
Visiting the records from the past can also drop us straight into history without the barriers of interpretation. On YouTube, we can hear the first-person account of a Virginian, Julius Howell, born in 1846, who fought in the Civil War. We can listen to slaves tell us in their own voices about their lives and hardships. American Edith Russell speaks at length about her night on the Titanic, when she and a few others playfully kicked and threw broken bits of ice around on the deck, having no idea that the damaged ship was already sinking.A Night at the Museum
“Night at the Museum” is the name of a popular movie franchise having to do with American history, but with today’s digital technology, we can all spend a night at the museum if we choose. Detrimental as they were in other areas, the COVID-19 lockdowns increased the number of virtual tours in museums and at historical sites. You may live in Montana, but if you want to visit Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, a tour is yours for the asking. You can do the same for the White House, Teddy Roosevelt’s Sagamore Hill home, battlefields such as Antietam in Maryland and the Alamo, and scores of other historic places.Keeping Alive the Flame of Liberty
To love others—spouses, children, friends—means knowing them, and that love and knowledge embeds in us the fierce desire to take care of them, to protect and defend them. We want the best for them and for them to be their best.The same holds true for our country. By discovering more about our land of deeds and dreams, our affections can only deepen. This year, when we celebrate America’s birthday, we have the means at hand to make that learning more a reality than ever before.
So let’s grill up those hamburgers, savor the potato salad, and shoot off some fireworks, but let’s also take the time to find out more about where we came from and who we are as Americans.
