Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of
July, is a federal holiday in the United
States 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. Independence Day
is the National
Day 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. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most
memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be
celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It
ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion
to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows,
games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this
continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.
Adams's prediction was off by two days. 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.
Historians have long disputed whether Congress
actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas
Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin
Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most
historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after
its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.
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.
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