In American and British history, July 4 and Nov. 5 are dates to remember. Britain will hold its next parliamentary elections on July 4, and the U.S. presidential and congressional elections are set for Nov. 5, 2024.

July 4, 1776 marked the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, in which the 13 American colonies asserted themselves as independent from the British Empire and the rule of King George III. Perhaps the most trenchant, but less quoted, line in the document is: “When government becomes destructive, it is the right of the people to alter and abolish it and establish a new one.”

Nov. 5 is known as Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night in the U.K. It commemorates the failure of the infamous Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Catholic conspirators including Guy Fawkes tried to assassinate King James I by blowing up the House of Lords during the opening of Parliament. The plot unraveled and Fawkes and his fellow plotters were executed for treason. The tradition of lighting bonfires to celebrate the King’s survival continues on Nov. 5, along with the expression “Gunpowder, treason and plot.”

In some ways, Britons will go to........

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