When is Independence Day in the United States?
What is the Fourth of July in the United States?
What is the Fourth of July in the United States? The Fourth of July celebrates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. The Declaration announced the political separation of the 13 North American colonies from Great Britain.
Why is the Fourth of July celebrated with fireworks?
In Fourth of July celebrations, fireworks signify national pride and patriotism. They had been used in China since at least the 12th cent. In the 15th century, they became popular with European monarchs to celebrate national triumphs, the restoration of peace, and the monarchs’ birthdays. Fireworks have been part of Independence Day in the United States since its first celebration in 1777.
Why did the North American colonies declare independence?
The Declaration of Independence, passed on July 4, 1776, reflected widespread colonists’ dissatisfaction with increased British control. Colonists especially opposed a series of unpopular laws and taxes enacted by Britain beginning in 1764, including the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the so-called Intolerable Acts.
Should election day be made a national holiday like Independence Day?
Independence Day, also called Fourth of July or July 4 in the United States, the annual celebration of nationhood. It commemorates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
The Congress had voted in favor of independence from Great Britain on Jul. Still, it did not complete revising the Declaration of Independence, originally drafted by Thomas Jefferson in consultation with fellow committee members John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and William Livingston, until two days later. The celebration was initially modeled on the king’s birthday, marked annually by bell ringing, bonfires, solemn processions, and oratory. Such festivals had long played a significant role in the Anglo-American political tradition. Especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, when dynastic and religious controversies racked the British Empire (and much of the rest of Europe), the choice of which anniversaries and historical events were celebrated and which were lamented had precise political meanings. The ritual of toasting the king and other patriot heroes—or of criticizing them—became an informal kind of political speech, further formalized in the mid-18th century when the toasts given at taverns and banquets began to be reprinted in newspapers.
In the early stages of the revolutionary movement in the colonies during the 1760s and early ’70s, patriots used such celebrations to proclaim their resistance to Parliament’s legislation while lauding King George III as the real defender of English liberties. However, marking the first days of independence during the summer of 17ly took the form in many towns of a mock funeral for the king, whose “death” symbolized the end of monarchy and tyranny and the rebirth of liberty.
All your questions about the Fourth of July are answered here:
During the public’s early years, Independence Day was commemorated with parades, oratory, and toasting in ceremonies that celebrated the new nation’s existence. These rites played an equally important role in the evolving federal political system. The rise of informal political parties allowed leaders and constituents to tie local and national contests to independence and national polity issues. By the mid-1790,s the two nascent political parties held separate partisan Independence Day festivals in most larger towns. For this reason, Independence Day became the model for a series of (often short-lived) celebrations that sometimes contained more explicit political resonance, such as George Washington’s birthday and the anniversary of Jefferson’s inauguration. At the same time,e he served as president (1801–09).
The bombastic torrent of words that characterized Independence Day during the 19th century made it both a solemn occasion and one sometimes open to ridicule—like the increasingly popular and democratic political process in that period. With the growth and diversification of American society, the Fourth of July commemoration became a patriotic tradition that many groups—not just political parties—sought to claim. Abolitionists, women’s rights advocates, the temperance movement, and opponents of immigration (nativists) all seized the day and its observance, often declaring that they could not celebrate with the entire community. In contrast,e an un-American perversion of their rights prevailed.
fireworks on the Fourth of July
How Fourth of July fireworks get their colors
With the rise of leisure, the Fourth of July in the United States emerged as a significant midsummer holiday. The prevalence of heavy drinking and the many injuries caused by setting off fireworks prompted reformers of the late 19th and the early 20th century to mount a Safe and Sane Fourth of July movement. During the later 20th century, although it remained a national holiday marked by parades, concerts of patriotic music, and fireworks displays, Independence Day declined in importance as a political venue. It remains a potent symbol of national power, specifically American qualities—even the freedom to stay home and barbecue.
From AC Dave Heating & Air family to yours, Happy 4th of July!
