The Whole Truth: The General's Dentures and July 4th

In honor of George Washington and his often cited virtue of honesty, I'd like to take this blog entry to briefly state the truth on two items of Revolutionary folklore. First, George Washington's teeth were never made out of wood. He actually had many different sets of teeth, none of which were made out of wood. This picture is from the Mt. Vernon website. When I visited the new Visitor's Center at Mt. Vernon, I saw this set of teeth in person. However, I did not take a picture of them because of a very polite sign next to the display, which read, "Please do not photograph the General's dentures." So I didn't. The pair of dentures in the picture is actually made of animal and human teeth, as well as vegetable ivory, and is fitted into a hinged lead base. So in addition to the pain from ill-fitting dentures, the lead was probably not too healthy either. So there you have it -- the true, but brief, story of the General's Dentures.

I'd also like to clarify, in brief, a chronological confusion relating to our country's celebration of its independence. Everyone knows we celebrate independence on July 4th -- this is "self-evident." In other words, it is so ingrained in the popular understanding of what it means to be an American that you probably don't even remember when you learned this most important fact. It just was always this way. However, the truth is that independence was actually "officially" declared on July 2nd. Yes, you read that correctly -- July 2nd. It was on July 2nd that the Second Continental Congress offically adopted Richard Henry Lee's "Resolution of Independence." The Resolution was first proposed by Richard Henry Lee, from Virginia, on June 7, 1776. After it was introduced, a Committee of Five was appointed to draft a document to explain the reasons for declaring independence. The Lee Resolution was approved on July 2nd -- so, in other words, the members of the Continental Congress voted to declare independence on July 2. Twelve colonies voted for it, and New York abstained.

So, what happened on July 4th, you ask? It was on July 4th that the text of the document called the "Declaration of Independence," originally drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was officially voted on and approved.

This is a picture I took of the Washington, DC fireworks from the Francis Scott Key bridge in Georgetown. If you look very closely, you can see the Washington Monument on the left and the lights from the Kennedy Center.


Now, before you start kicking yourself for celebrating independence on the wrong day all these years, let me make one more point to reassure you that July 4th is probably the correct day to celebrate. On July 4th, we are actually celebrating the official statement and explanation of the REASONS for independence, rather than just the official DECLARING of it. Hence, July 4th is the day which marks a more intellectual argument explaining the causes of our celebration, rather than just a simple statement declaring separation. By choosing July 4th to celebrate, we not only celebrate our declaring independence from Great Britain, but also celebrate the words that have become gospel -- the principles that have become "organic law." The Declaration of Independence gives voice to our rights -- natural "self-evident" rights which are understood to be true. By appearing in written form in the Declaration, the idea that "all men are created equal" first becomes an "official" part of American identity, even though it took a Civil War and a Civil Rights Movement to see it appear in practice. The idea that our government exists to protect and preserve our right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is a fundamental part of being an American citizen. Hence, we should keep accurate historical chronology in mind by recognizing that independence was declared on July 2nd. But we should also recognize that our celebration should indeed occur on July 4th, for on that day, our celebration becomes not merely one of declaring independence, but becomes a celebration of American rights, and American identity.