As the nation prepares to mark its 250th anniversary, Gettysburg is taking a closer look at one of the country’s Founding Fathers through a unique Independence celebration. On The Spark, Codie Eash of Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center and Erin Pearce of the Gettysburg Foundation joined us to discuss The Great Anniversary Festival: A July 2nd Independence Celebration, an event that shines a spotlight on John Adams and the pivotal vote for American independence that took place on July 2, 1776.
Although Americans celebrate Independence Day on July 4, Eash explained that Adams believed July 2 would become the nation’s defining holiday because it was the day the Continental Congress approved the resolution for independence. “It’s really on July 2nd that everything comes to a head and that independence resolution is passed,” Eash said. “It’s July 4th when everything is announced to the American public, and that’s why we associate July 4 with our independence.” Adams famously wrote to his wife, Abigail, predicting that July 2 “will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival”—a prediction that was ultimately off by two days.
Pearce said Adams would likely be astonished not only that Americans still remember him, but that an entire county bears his name. “I think he would be surprised to see that he’s still remembered,” she said. “He was there to do his duty because that’s what you did.” She added that Adams would also be fascinated to see how many of the issues he anticipated—including debates over slavery and the nation’s future—became defining chapters in American history. The festival itself grew from a partnership between the Gettysburg Foundation and Seminary Ridge Museum after organizers realized there were few public readings of the Declaration of Independence planned during the nation’s semiquincentennial celebration.
The July 2 event will feature a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, a panel discussion exploring the document’s lasting legacy, and an outdoor screening of the John Adams miniseries episode Independence. Organizers hope the evening encourages visitors to reflect on the nation’s founding while connecting Revolutionary history to Gettysburg’s own place in the American story.
For more information about The Great Anniversary Festival: A July 2nd Independence Celebration, visit the Gettysburg Foundation at gettysburgfoundation.org or the Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center at seminaryridgemuseum.org.
Listen to the podcast to hear the conversation.
