# July 4, 1776 is a weird date to assign as "America's Birthday" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 28, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4-1776-is-a-weird-date-to-assign-as-americas-birthday/1030461 "2026-05-28T18:29:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4-1776-is-a-weird-date-to-assign-as-americas-birthday/1030461/21 "2026-05-29T16:16:33Z")
I am very much of the opinion that nation-states and the systems of government they use are two separate things. Systems of government come and go - after all, the one the U.S. has now is radically different from the one it had in 1789, so much so that if all of the changes had occurred all at once, you’d consider it a revolution. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > Truthfully, September 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris (which formally granted US indpendence) was signed, makes more historical sense. That presumes that independence is something that is granted rather than something that is taken. The Treaty of Paris _recognized_ U.S. independence - it didn’t grant it. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4-1776-is-a-weird-date-to-assign-as-americas-birthday/1030461/22 "2026-05-29T16:33:12Z")
It means I made a typo. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4-1776-is-a-weird-date-to-assign-as-americas-birthday/1030461/23 "2026-05-29T16:56:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m of the opinion that a nation-state is its system of government. By this standard, the adoption of the Constitution is the only date that makes sense for the birth of our nation. I agree 100%, and since I was even a kid, the year 1789 was a lot more important to me than 1776. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4-1776-is-a-weird-date-to-assign-as-americas-birthday/1030461/24 "2026-05-29T18:53:52Z")
Glancing at the various independence days listed in Wikipedia, the majority are based on declarations of independence with a mix of treaties and ends of occupation thrown in. > **[List of national independence days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_independence_days)** > > An Independence Day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a military occupation, or after a major change in government. Many countries commemorate their independence from a colonial empire. > Not all countries mark independence as a national holiday. Many, such as Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Japan, New Zealand, Ireland, Luxembourg, Saud... ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2026, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4-1776-is-a-weird-date-to-assign-as-americas-birthday/1030461/25 "2026-05-30T01:53:39Z")
If they re-write the entire thing, maybe that only counts as a single amendment? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2026, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4-1776-is-a-weird-date-to-assign-as-americas-birthday/1030461/26 "2026-05-30T02:15:48Z")
Let nobody ever tell you that you aren’t capable of thinking big. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4-1776-is-a-weird-date-to-assign-as-americas-birthday/1030461/27 "2026-05-30T13:56:02Z")
My mother’s birthday was July 4th. When she was a little kid, she thought all the parades and fireworks were for her birthday. Even though it’s posthumous, and even though she had reality all sorted out by the time she was 7, don’t take this away. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4-1776-is-a-weird-date-to-assign-as-americas-birthday/1030461/28 "2026-05-30T15:29:59Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > My mother’s birthday was July 4th. Pour one out for us kids who were born in the summer (I was born in August) who didn’t get birthday parties at school because of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4-1776-is-a-weird-date-to-assign-as-americas-birthday/1030461.md?page=1)