The Declaration of Independence
So, Independence Day = July 4, 1776
Why? Because that date is representative of the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation.
THAT DATE IS NOT...
- The day the Continental Congress declared Independence officially
- The day we started the American Revolution
- The day Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the declaration of independence
- The day the declaration was delivered to England
- The day it was signed
THAT DATE IS...
- The date the Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence (After a couple days of hard work)
- The official date on the document
- The official date on the documents that were printed in mass and delivered to the colonies (So the association with that particular date grew from that)
HOW DID IT BECOME A HOLIDAY?
- A couple decades passed without the holiday catching on (partly due to political parties arguing over the holiday's importance or lack thereof)
- After the war (of 1812) the Federalist party came to power and decided to promote the holiday
- They circulated copies of the Declaration with the original July 4th date printed at the top
- The holiday slowly picked up a celebratory zeal and after nearly 100 years was recognized by the U.S. Congress as a national holiday in 1870.
POINTS OF INTEREST *from Wikipedia
- In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired in salute, once at morning and once again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.
- In 1778, from his headquarters at Ross Hall, near New Brunswick, New Jersey, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute (feu de joie). Across the Atlantic Ocean,ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.
- In 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday. The holiday was celebrated on Monday, July 5.[15]
- In 1781 the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration.
- In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina, held a celebration of July 4 with a challenging music program assembled by Johann Friedrich Peter. This work was titled "The Psalm of Joy." This is recognized as the first recorded celebration and is still celebrated there today.
- In 1791 the first recorded use of the name "Independence Day" occurred.
- In 1870, the U.S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees.
- In 1938, Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday.
