Well, we’re on our way…at least the lovers of American history are!

On July 4, we as a nation will usher in a grand celebration, one that will harken back 250 years to the beginning. Let me set the stage…

The Declaration of Independence wasn’t first unveiled in a quiet room—it was proclaimed aloud to the public. On July 8, 1776, just four days after Congress adopted it, the document was read in the yard of the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (today’s Independence Hall), most likely by Colonel John Nixon, a local militia officer known for his strong voice.

Bells rang afterwards, crowds cheered, and symbols of British authority were pulled down, including a statue of King George III. Similar public readings happened the same day in towns like Trenton and Easton, New Jersey.

There weren’t fireworks yet in the modern sense—those came with later with annual celebrations—but there were bonfires and “illuminations” (candles in windows), marking the moment when independence moved from parchment into public life.

But to truly understand what led to these moments and the tumultuous years that followed, we must go further back.

I’m in the process of publishing 27 Substack Notes, one a week leading up to this Fourth of July, to quickly recount some key events that propelled the thirteen colonies toward war with Great Britain. I hope you’ll look for them on Wednesday mornings, say, around 11 a.m. PST.

To catch you up, here are the first four notes…

Note #1: From Thirteen Grievances to One Voice

When did the American colonists begin thinking of themselves as one people?
Answer: 1765.

Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a tax on everything from newspapers to playing cards. It wasn’t so much the tax itself that etched this moment into the annals of American history, but the unity it created. Long divided by region, faith, and economics, the colonies now shared a single grievance.

“No taxation without representation” wasn’t a slogan yet—it was a gut response. Soon after, figures like James Otis, a leading voice in Boston and the Massachusetts Assembly, and Patrick Henry of the Virginia House of Burgesses thundered against the Act. The phrase spread quickly through speeches, pamphlets, broadsides, taverns, and sermons.

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Note #2: When Order Became Occupation

Few are aware that the Liberty Riot of 1768—perhaps more than musket and cannon fire—paved the road toward revolution. British customs officials seized the Liberty, a sloop owned by John Hancock, on charges of smuggling. Boston erupted. Violence broke out on the docks. Crowds chased customs officers through the streets. Officials fled to Castle William in the harbor.

The ship and the charges were secondary to the real issue. Britain wanted more than revenue—it wanted control. Many colonists now sensed that their autonomy was slipping away.

In response to the unrest, Britain sent about 4,000 troops to occupy Boston later that year. The occupation would not restore order. It would set the stage for the Boston Massacre in 1770.

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Note #3: The First to Fall

On March 5, 1770, a mixed-race sailor and formerly enslaved man named Crispus Attucks fell to British musket fire during the Boston Massacre. Ask a room of students—and most adults—who Crispus Attucks was, and you’ll often get blank stares, even though he was the first to die as the fuse of the American Revolution was lit.

Attucks had no political power and few legal rights. Yet he was the first to pay the price for liberty. His funeral procession wound through Boston with thousands following—a public act of remembrance long before the nation itself was born.

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Note #4: When Fear Burned Away

The Gaspee Affair of June 9–10, 1772—more than a year before the Boston Tea Party—revealed something new to the British. The colonists were no longer afraid. They were willing to resist together.

The British customs schooner HMS Gaspee, notorious for harassing local ships, ran aground near Providence, Rhode Island. Under cover of darkness, colonists boarded the vessel, shot the captain, and burned the ship to the waterline.

London demanded the culprits be sent to England for trial. No colony cooperated.

The message was unmistakable. Resistance had become collective, organized, and unapologetic. The burning of the Gaspee was not an outburst—it was a warning.

America, for all its triumphs, foibles, and blessings, is an experiments still in the making. A place where people from all over the globe still risk life and limb to gain entry. To enjoy the freedoms she offers.

God bless America.