Independence Day (United States)
Independence
Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday.
Commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4,
1776, declaring
Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly
associated with
fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball
games, family reunions,
and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private
events
celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States.
During the
American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great
Britain
occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental
Congress voted to approve a resolution of
independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry
Lee of Virginia declaring the United
States independent from Great Britain. [After voting for
independence, Congress turned its
attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement
explaining this decision, which had been
prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as
its principal author. Congress debated
and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it
on July 4. From the
outset,
Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the
much-publicized Declaration
of Independence, rather than on July
2, the date the Resolution of independence was approved in a
closed session of Congress.
Thomas Jefferson,
John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all signed it on that day. after its
adoption
on In a remarkable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas
Jefferson, the only signers of the
Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States
died on the same day:
July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although
not a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, but another Founding Father who became a
President, James
Monroe, died on July 4, 1831, thus becoming the third president in a row who died on
this
memorable day. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born on July 4, 1872, and, so far, is
the
only President to have been born on
Independence Day.
To
be continued…
