"HappyBirthdaysUSA.com: A Funny Historical Skit on the Happy Birthdays of the USA" [video 10 min]
When is the birthday of the United States of America? July 4th, 1776 any first grader would answer. So how old is the United States of America? Let me see, 2009-1776, we are 233 years old, Happy Birthday United States of America! Typically, the first time one learns that the answer may not be the fourth of July is in junior high school during American history class. Here, students learn that the United Colonies of America actually declared their Independence on July 2nd and not the fourth. Next they learn that the constitutional formation of the United States of America, as a Perpetual Union, occurred under the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777. Furthermore, they are taught that this U.S. Constitution of 1777 wasnt ratified until March 1, 1781. They then learn that it wasnt until two years later that Great Britain conceded the independence of its American colonies with the September 3, 1783 signing of the Treaty of Paris.
To make matters more complex, each college student is reminded every year, by their universities, that the true birth date of the more perfect United States is September 17, 1787. The U.S. Constitution of 1787, however, was not ratified by the required 2/3rds States until June 21, 1788. It was not adopted by the United States Confederation government until July 2, 1788 which resolved that the new Constitution of 1787 would take effect on March 4, 1789. Finally, there is the question on whether or not the reformulation of the United States of America required all 13 States, rather than just nine, to ratify the current Constitution thus dissolving the Articles of Confederation. If this is the case, then Rhode Islands ratification on May 29, 1790, thirteen months after George Washington took the Presidential Oath of Office, may be the true birthday of the United States of America.
So, when is the birthday of the United States of America? To discern the answer to this question it is first necessary to adopt a plausible definition for the word birthday. Since this inquiry concerns the United States, we turn to a historic American dictionary for verbal clarity. Noah Websters Dictionary defines birthday as, The day in which any person is born; day of origin or commencement. Since the U.S. is not a person, this video has fun addressing the true day of origin or commencement of the United States of America.
Stan Klos
HappyBirthdaysusa.com
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To make matters more complex, each college student is reminded every year, by their universities, that the true birth date of the more perfect United States is September 17, 1787. The U.S. Constitution of 1787, however, was not ratified by the required 2/3rds States until June 21, 1788. It was not adopted by the United States Confederation government until July 2, 1788 which resolved that the new Constitution of 1787 would take effect on March 4, 1789. Finally, there is the question on whether or not the reformulation of the United States of America required all 13 States, rather than just nine, to ratify the current Constitution thus dissolving the Articles of Confederation. If this is the case, then Rhode Islands ratification on May 29, 1790, thirteen months after George Washington took the Presidential Oath of Office, may be the true birthday of the United States of America.
So, when is the birthday of the United States of America? To discern the answer to this question it is first necessary to adopt a plausible definition for the word birthday. Since this inquiry concerns the United States, we turn to a historic American dictionary for verbal clarity. Noah Websters Dictionary defines birthday as, The day in which any person is born; day of origin or commencement. Since the U.S. is not a person, this video has fun addressing the true day of origin or commencement of the United States of America.
Stan Klos
HappyBirthdaysusa.com