Fourth of July
"Faith?" the voice of Professor Robert Langdon called through out his house, "Faith, where are you?"
He sighed. When he had bought the house years ago, he didn't mind the size. It gave him space to put all his books and have his crazy family over for holidays. But now, he was beginning to regret buying such a big house. He could lose his eleven-year old daughter easily. She had managed to find so many nooks and crannies to hide herself in with a book and she wouldn't come out until they had dinner.
Robert had decided to home school Faith for a few years before enrolling her at the local school. She was still adjusting to life in the states and she had a fair bit to catch up on. She could speak English perfectly now. Robert had sat her down in front of 'Doctor Who' to help her learn English but now she spoke with a British accent rather than an American one! Her ability to write in English was coming in leaps and bounds. Robert was astounded at how hard it was to write in English. It was something he had always taken for granted.
"FAITH!" he shouted this time.
Where could she have gone? She knew not to leave the house on her own, but Robert still went to check the door. It was still locked, thank goodness.
"Robert?" called Sophie Neveu, who had stayed with Faith when she had moved over to the states.
"Sophie!" sighed Robert, "Have you seen Faith?"
"She was reading under the tree in the garden the last time I saw her."
Robert smiled, "Thanks, Soph!" and he headed off in the direction of the garden.
The garden was fairly large with a beautiful oak tree in the far corner and, just as Sophie had said, Faith was sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, reading a book. He walked over and tapped her on the head before sitting on the grass in front of her.
"Hey," he smiled, "What are you reading?"
"Sophie's World!" she smiled, "It's mainly Philosophy but it has a story running through it as well."
"Philosophy eh?" he smiled.
"I like it. I like thinking about things like 'Who are we?' and 'Why are we here?'"
"Those are very intelligent questions to be asking!"
Faith smiled, "It's interesting though, don't you think?"
Robert nodded. "The emergence of Philosophical thought is arguably what sets us apart from the animal kingdom, the ability to question our surroundings, question what it means to be human."
"I like the history side of it personally. How all these great philosophers were creating their arguments and theories and living through some of the most turbulent periods of human history."
"And that brings me to today's lesson." Robert smiled, "Would you like to head into the house or stay under this tree?"
Faith thought for a moment, "It's a nice day, can we stay here?" she asked.
"Sure." Replied Robert, making himself comfy.
"What are we learning about today, Dad?" she asked, placing her book to one side and looking keenly at her father. She loved her lessons from her dad. He was very clever and he knew how to make her lessons interesting and fun. So far they had covered a fair bit of English, especially the reading and writing, some maths (but Faith was good at her maths anyway) and she was doing advanced French with Sophie once a week. They had done bits and pieces on history and geography and religious studies. Robert was trying to make her basic knowledge as well rounded as he could before she started at school.
"Well, I thought seeing as it was the Fourth of July, we could cover the American Wars of Independence?"
"Ok. Sounds good!" smiled Faith.
"Ok then." Robert looked at his daughter and smiled, "America wasn't always independent." He began, "It used to be a part of the British Empire and ruled over by the British crown."
"That doesn't sound too bad." Faith smiled.
"No, but the British were beginning to put taxes on everything including tea. On December 16th 1773, a group of men managed to board some of the ships bringing in the tea to Boston and dumped it into the sea."
"Boston?" Faith asked, "That's not too far from here!"
Robert shook his head, "We can go one day if you would like?"
Faith nodded, "What happened after that?"
Robert smiled at his daughters impatience to learn, "Well, the British shut off the city's sea trading routes in demand for the payment of the tea that had been dumped. They hoped by doing this, they would single out Massachusetts for punishment but instead it united the states and helped to fuel the road to war."
"So the American colonies had had enough of the British rule?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's about the size of it. In 1775, the opposition to British rule became a full blown war and gave us many of our founding fathers, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison just to name a few."
"I know some of those names!" smiled Faith, "I know that Washington was the first President!"
"Very good. He was actually in command of some of the armies during the war. He realised that this would be a hard campaign, one that wouldn't be won overnight. The American forces had a few successes in early 1775 and drove the British out of Boston. Then in July 1776, a group of men, headed by Thomas Jefferson met and drafted up the American Constitution. A total of thirteen colonies signed the declaration and effectively gained their independence. The date was July 4th 1776, Independence Day."
"I thought there were 50 states in the USA?" Faith asked.
"There are. But these thirteen originally gained independence and that would later lead to the 50 states that we have now."
"So not everyone had independence in 1776?"
Robert shook his head, "It would take a few years until we were totally independent!"
"How did that happen?" Faith asked, eager to know more.
Robert smiled, "Well, the British came back and reclaimed New York in 1776. Washington won at Trenton in 1776 which was a big boost to the American army but the British took Philidelphia. In 1777, the American's managed to take back New York. In 1781, the American's got the support both financially and military and won the Battle of Yorktown. The British knew they had no hope of reclaiming the American colonies so they retreated and America was free."
"So, if they didn't win their freedom until 1781, why is Independence Day in July?" she asked, confused.
"Because the signing of the Declaration of Independence was a big deal at the time. It was when the American colonies formally declared their wish to be independent from the British colonies. It opened the floodgates and eventually allowed the colonies to gain complete independence. The Fourth of July marked the start of everything that happened after that."
Faith thought for a moment. "So it was an actual declaration to be independent, during the early fighting that led to the complete independence?"
"Yes." Said Robert, "So, every year on the Fourth of July there are parties and fireworks and good food. People are proud of the fact that we are an independent nation, and we show that in style on July fourth."
Faith sat and thought, and Robert smiled, "It'll take you a while to get used to it. I grew up with the history and I learnt about it in school from a young age. You are just starting out and you're eleven. Don't worry if you don't understand it just now."
Faith smiled, "I get parts of it, Dad."
"That's good then." He smiled, "We can go watch some fireworks tonight."
"Really?"
"Yeah! Boston always makes a big deal out Independence Day and the fireworks are always good!"
"Can we have dinner out?" asked Faith, cautiously.
Robert smiled at her, "Sure we can. It's Independence Day after all!"