Academic Rants

In 1774 the American struggle with England became a war for independence. On July 4, 1775 the leadership of this revolution declared freedom from England but gave themselves a year later before making it official. The following year they signed the document celebrating America's birth.  1776 America was far from perfect. The war still had to be won and peace with England needed to be forged. It would take decades for things to become normalized. The original government, the Continental Congress, would be replaced as would be the Articles of Confederation, the governing principles.  The original states printed their own currencies and had their own treaties and there were arguments over state borders.  Even when the Constitution was established and the presidency was created, all of current concepts were not set and the process of electing a president and vice president were fuzzy at best.  Many current Americans were alive when Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959. Conceptually,