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Before this year, I'd never heard of the word 'semi-quincentennial'.
That, it turns out, is what we say when a country turns 250 years old, which is what happens to you our American cousins on 4th July!
To celebrate this radical milestone - which itself inspired tremendous change around the world - a delegation from Radical Tea Towel visited Philadelphia, Pennsylvania last month to hear how it all began.
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The Declaration of Independence was highly controversial at the time, with a real split in the 13 states between those who rejected monarchy and those who believed the old system was safest
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As well as being keen to learn about the history, we were in Philadelphia for a museum trade show.
Several trade show attendees were amused to see that our Declaration of Independence tea towel came wrapped in a bellyband stating, proudly, "Made in the UK":
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Not an entirely incorrect statement, perhaps, as the Declaration's origins go back at least to Magna Carta, when English barons forced concessions from the king including equal treatment under the law and the right to justice.
In fact, as I learned at the excellent 'Museum of the American Revolution' in Philadelphia, the reason for ordinary Americans choosing to side with the independent States or the Crown back in the late 18th century wasn't just about anger over taxation or their sense of loyalty to the old institution of monarchy.
Americans were also concerned with how best to protect what they called "English liberties".
These included rights established under Magna Carta, such as their right to property and due process, but also the general freedom to live in peace and safety.
Many colonists chose to support the king because they believed the existing setup gave them the best chance of life and safety, when compared against an untested experiment run by inexperienced 'founders'.
It was the concern to protect individual freedoms that drove the passage of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, also known as the 'Bill of Rights'.
Of course, on both sides, there was an inbuilt assumption that such freedoms only applied to settlers of European descent.
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A century after the Declaration of Independence, Archibald Willard painted the 'Spirit of 76' as the US marvelled at its own survival
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King George cynically promised African Americans their freedom in exchange for supporting the Crown during the Revolutionary War, while many of the American Founders condoned slavery.
There were those, however, who realised at the time that a Declaration which stated the "self-evident" truth of the equality of all men was a radical departure from the hierarchies of old. And that it would eventually be tested.
Later in our trip, we learned about the appalling history of slavery at the superb Museum of African American History in Washington DC.
And of course the wave of radicalism that stretched from 18th century abolitionists to the Civil Rights movement of the 20th century - who through a long struggle, were able to apply America's promise of freedom to all its citizens.
That's not to say, of course, that those freedoms seem secure, as the behaviour of the current US President has shown.
But then, how confident are we in the longevity of the UK's own democracy, really?
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The Suffragettes in Britain allied with their American Suffragist counterparts in an international struggle for women's rights
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We were delighted to make connections with some passionate museum store and history advocates during our trip, and our women's suffrage designs in particular went down well.
Thanks to our tea towels, the British Suffragettes - made in the UK - now adorn outlets from the Gilded Age mansions of Rhode Island to the historical centre of New York City!
Perhaps this shows that America has at last forgiven us Brits - bearing in mind how our country did everything it could to suffocate the US at birth, and again in 1812 when Britain invaded and burned down the White House.
We should forgive our American cousins for wanting a little celebration after 250 years.
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