Freedom & Justice For All

By Nolan Rettig

Ever since the United States of America’s victory in its war for independence, there’s been a litany of traditions tied to celebrating it. Many of today’s go back to the very first celebrations in 1777. The Philadelphia Evening Post describes the festivities as such:

[At] about noon all the armed ships and gallies in the river were drawn up before the city, dressed in the gayest manner, with the colors of the United States and streamers displayed. At one o’clock, the yards being properly manned, they began the celebration of the day by a discharge of thirteen cannon from each of the ships, and one from each of the thirteen gallies, in honor of the Thirteen United States … The evening was closed with the ringing of bells, and at night there was a grand exhibition of fireworks (which began and concluded with thirteen rockets) on the Commons, and the city was beautifully illuminated.

Other accounts describe parades and feasts throughout the colonies, such that even the first Independence Day celebrations weren’t too different from those of today. Even so, it required another seven years before independence was fully realized and a hundred sixty-two before it became the paid federal holiday that it is today.

The significance of July fourth celebrations which coincide with important flashpoints can’t be understated, as it’s always been an opportunity for Americans to come together and celebrate how far they’ve come since 1776. This also makes Oregon’s relationship to the Fourth of July unique compared to other states, as the Pacific Northwest in general and Oregon in particular were heavily contested before the signing of the Oregon Treaty in 1846. Unlike other July 4th celebrations that celebrated America’s prevailing over Britain’s military, Oregonians were glad to have secured their independence peacefully, with the first recorded Fourth of July in Oregon coming a month after the treaty’s signing.

Presidential portrait of James Buchanan, who was a key player in the Oregon Treaty while serving as Secretary of State under James K. Polk.

A visual guide to the boundary dispute between America and Canada. The rallying cry ‘Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!’ was used by Americans that wanted to expand to the parallel of that name.

Although Oregon wouldn’t be designated a territory until 1848 or a state until 1859, the seventieth anniversary of American independence was celebrated with as much enthusiasm as anywhere else. According to an edition of the Oregon Spectator, the Northwestern climate wasn’t kind to Salem’s July fourth celebration, with there being heavy rain that shortened their parade and prevented the use of fireworks, though spirits were said to have still been high despite this. A speech delivered by William G. T’Vault, president of the Oregon Printing Association, summed Oregonian’s optimism up in this way:

The world [has] been watching our republican form of government for 70 years, during which time we have run the glorious race of empire; friends have gazed in fear, and foes in scorn; but fear has turned to joy, and scorn is lost in wonder.

Though America has always faced adversity since declaring its independence, the Fourth of July has always been an opportunity to reflect on how long the Spirit of ‘76 has flourished, with it being at least as poignant for those celebrating it today, centuries later, as when it was still in living memory.

References

“Fourth of July Celebration at Salem.” Oregon Spectator, July 23, 1846. Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, OR. Accessed July 4, 2025. https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn84022662/1846-07-23/ed-1/seq-4/

“James Buchanan.” Brittanica, May 28, 2025. Accessed July 4, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Buchanan-president-of-United-States

“Oregon Country and the border dispute between the U.S. and Britain, 1818-1846,” Wikimedia Commons, April 5, 2006. Accessed July 4, 2025. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oregoncountry.png

“The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,” 35. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1911. Accessed July 4, 2025. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Pennsylvania_Magazine_of_History_and/BdULAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0