Today's quiz: In what southern American city was Independence Day (July 4th) not celebrated for about 80 years, and why?
While you are working on that, have a look at this post by the Accidental Historian which is a (friendly) response to my series of posts on missionaries.

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Comments
my guess is Vicksburg, as that was the date the city surrendered to Grant
Posted by: bwv | July 9, 2009 10:15 AM
my guess is Vicksburg, as that was the date the city surrendered to Grant
Posted by: bwv | July 9, 2009 10:19 AM
Wow. Thanks for the link. I really appreciate it.
Also, bmv, you might be right. But that doesn't mean you can't go read my posts on the Civil War, anyway...
Posted by: Geds | July 9, 2009 11:10 AM
Apparently, controversy touches everything. The notion that Vicksburg eschewed celebrating the fourth is called an old canard in this web piece:
http://civilwarmemory.typepad.com/civil_war_memory/2008/02/july-4-and-vick.html
Posted by: John Swindle | July 9, 2009 4:29 PM
Well, maybe. I went and trolled them.
Next thing you know we'll be hearing that Slavery had nothing to do with the Civil War!
Posted by: Greg Laden | July 9, 2009 4:48 PM
The notion that Vicksburg eschewed celebrating the fourth is called an old canard in this web piece:
It depends on how you define the terms. To the best of my knowledge there was no official 4th celebration in Vicksburg until World War II. Many Southern communities avoided official celebrations immediately after the war and during Reconstruction. That doesn't mean people didn't celebrate the 4th on their own, though.
Generally when people say, "Vicksburg didn't celebrate the 4th," they're referring to the municipality, not individual citizens of Vicksburg. Similarly, "Chicago" doesn't observe Ramadan, but many Chicagoans do.
Next thing you know we'll be hearing that Slavery had nothing to do with the Civil War!
Hold the flame war off until next week, please. I'm not as up to date on the Lost Cause Myth as I should be...
Posted by: Geds | July 9, 2009 4:59 PM
Aha! I knew this was going to get complicated...
Posted by: Greg Laden | July 9, 2009 5:09 PM
Thanks for the link to Civil War Memory. Just wanted to point out that the site has moved to www.cwmemory.com
Posted by: Kevin | July 10, 2009 5:35 AM