Thursday is the 4th of July. We are fortunate in Carroll County to have a number of events planned. Perhaps, as we spend time with friends and family over the holiday, we might take a moment to ponder just how fortunate we are in our great nation and to offer a thank you to the men and women in a military, police, firefighter or EMS uniform, who work tirelessly to keep us safe.
As this column comes together, Sykesville is hard at work preparing for its annual 4th of July “Let Freedom Ring” parade. For those reading the web edition of this column, the Sykesville parade is scheduled to step off at 10 a.m. on June 29. The parade begins at the Sykesville Middle School and proceeds down Springfield Avenue and the length of historic Main Street, with floats and vehicles accompanying the Westminster Municipal Band and approximately 35 participants marching in units and organized groups.
Taneytown will host an Independence Day celebration on July 3, from 6 to 10 p.m. in Memorial Park. The fireworks begin at 9:30 p.m. A rain date has been set for July 5.
Many folks enjoy the 4th of July celebration at the Carroll County Farm Museum. According to the farm museum website, on July 4, museum will host Carroll County’s “largest fireworks display at our Fourth of July Celebration starting at 4 p.m. with fireworks going off at sundown (approximately 9:30 p.m.) Admission is $10 per car. There will be food, live entertainment, children’s activities and more. Rain date is July 5 for fireworks only.” The farm museum website, https://carrollcountyfarmmuseum.org/event-calendar/, has a long list of vendors, food and entertainment scheduled. It is always a great community event.
Do not overlook the Manchester Volunteer Fire Company carnival from July 1-6. The Manchester firefighter parade steps off on July 2 at 7 p.m. Go to the Manchester fire company website for more information: https://www.manchestervfd.org/news/44/Carnival.
The 4th of July has a rich history in Carroll County. Before 1744, the government in what we now know as Carroll County was that of the Iroquois Nation. Long forgotten in many studies of American and Carroll County history is that the Iroquois, and July 4, 1744, played a key role in the evolution of American democracy.
Much of our current way of life can be traced back to the Iroquois Nation. Several of the main roads in Carroll County have their beginnings as trading routes used by the Iroquois, and several towns in Carroll County – Patapsco for example – had their beginnings as Iroquois settlements. According to oral tradition, Westminster’s Main Street dates back perhaps 1,500 years and was part of a major Native American trading route to the west.
Europeans came to the Carroll County territory slowly at first and it was not until after the Treaty of the Six Nations was signed on July 4, 1744, and the dispute over the Mason-Dixon Line was settled in 1767 that settlers started to come here in greater numbers. In 1744, approximately 65 families lived in the Carroll County territory.
Of course, another often ignored dynamic was that the Carroll territory was the subject of a much larger dispute between two world powers, France and England, and two governments, Maryland, the proprietary colony of Lord Baltimore, and the Iroquois Nation.
The Treaty of Paris in 1763 signaled the end of the North American portion of the French and Indian War, which was fought from 1754-63. It was one of the last pieces of the puzzle enabling settlement in Carroll County. The last piece, of course, was the American Revolution, 1775-83.
It was near present day Linwood that perhaps “the first white man’s structure in the area” was built in approximately 1715. It was a “log cabin trading post,” built by John Steelman, according to “Legacy of the Land,” by Carol Lee.
But the first “settlers” were the Algonquians who arrived around 800 B.C. Long before the early 1700s, the original Algonquians had divided into a number of distinct tribe-nations, which formed the Iroquois Confederacy under a constitution that dates to approximately Aug. 31, 1142.
Many historians to this day consider the multi-cultural and multi-lingual participatory democracy of the Iroquois Nation to be the inspiration for our nation’s founders.
Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson in particular used material from a famous speech made by the great Iroquois “Sachem” (the chief of the Iroquois Nation) Canassatego, in 1744 at the signing of the Treaty of Six Nations.
Other founders, such as John Adams and George Washington were familiar with the Iroquois polity. But it was Franklin, who was especially familiar with the government of the Iroquois Nation as he had begun his career as a diplomat representing Pennsylvania in negotiations with the Iroquois Nation.
In the Constitutional Convention of May through September 1787, the basis for the federal system of government advocated by Franklin was the Iroquois Nation system of government.
Have a great 4th of July week.
Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. His Time Flies column appears every Sunday. Email him at kevindayhoff@gmail.com.
