UNITED STATES.

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Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America, at Shanghai, China. July 4th, Centennial. A souvenir of the 1876 festivities held for the American expatriate community in Shanghai, one of the first locations globally to mark the centennial. The programme included a 100-gun salute at sunrise, evening fireworks at the consulate general, an oration by John C. Meyers, consul-general at Shanghai, and a reading of the Declaration of Independence by his deputy, Oliver B. Bradford.Many of the events occurred onboard a steamer, around 200 Americans making merry, dining on pie, salad, and cheese, and making liberal use of an open bar. Among the honoured guests was the Chinese governor of Shanghai, whose retinue could be seen smoking cigars and swigging wine.Bradford's central role in the historic event was overshadowed, a couple of years later, by his impeachment on charges of corruption, injustice towards American citizens, and undermining treaties between the US and China. The impeachment died in its procedural stage, and it has often been cited as a precedent, including in impeachment proceedings of the 2020s.

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