The Dark Origins of July 4th and the Papal Bull

Fireworks & Bloodshed: The Hidden History Behind July 4th, 4th of July, by Papa Duck, challenges the standard narratives about where the 4th of July comes from and what it means to celebrate it.

The speaker argues that the foundations of the historical American independence that we celebrate today are inextricably linked to certain very incompatible ideas, like the ideas behind something called the Papal Bull. Papal Bulls are decrees. They're kind of like medieval executive orders, and they were supposedly authorizing this European free-for-all to conquer the world.

This particular one, allegedly signed by some pope, way back when, has supposedly authorized all this violence against indigenous peoples as well as the violence of the transatlantic slave trade—