The Bulwark - On February 15, 1798, First Lady Abigail Adams wrote to her sister, outraged. “They are about to celebrate, not the Birth day of the first Majestrate of the union as such, but of General Washingtons Birth day!” Even worse, they had invited President John Adams to attend. Imagine the horror, she sputtered in rage, “The President of the united states to attend the celebration of the birth day in his publick Character, of a private Citizen! for in no other light can General Washington be now considerd.”
The Adamses were right. Celebrating one individual’s birthday was a weird activity for a new republic. Despite Abigail’s protests, celebrations for Washington’s birthday continue to this day, often under the umbrella of Presidents’ Day.
For centuries before John Adams’s presidency, Britons had been celebrating the monarch’s birthday, although the date wasn’t made an official holiday until 1748, under King George III’s grandfather. After declaring independence, most Americans stopped observing this holiday, but felt keenly the loss of the celebration.
By the winter of 1778, Americans had found an alternative. Soldiers encamped at Valley Forge threw celebrations in honor of George Washington’s birthday. The irony was not lost on some observers that Americans who had toasted George III just a few years prior were now shouting rowdy huzzahs for the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army fighting to dethrone the king in the American colonies. More
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