The Fourth of July celebrates the birth of the United States and has become one of the country’s biggest summer holidays. From fireworks and cookouts to parades and patriotic traditions, Independence Day is filled with history, celebration, and national pride. As you get ready for your own Fourth of July festivities, here are a few basic facts and fun pieces of history behind the holiday.
Why We Celebrate the Fourth of July
The reason we celebrate July 4th as Independence Day is because that is the day in 1776 when the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Declaration of Independence.
However, the actual resolution of independence passed two days earlier on July 2. But from the beginning, people celebrated the date of the declaration, not the resolution (much to the dismay of John Adams, see below).
It took a lot to get it done: the newly formed United States was breaking from Great Britain, one of the world’s major powers. But our forefathers had enough of being part of the British Empire. Their chief complaint involved the fact that Britain taxed people in the “colonies” without giving them representation in the British government.
Thomas Jefferson, who later became the third president, acted as chief author of the declaration. If Founding Fathers come up in conversation this Fourth of July, the most famous include Jefferson, Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and George Washington.
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Fun Facts About Independence Day
Chances are you are getting together with family or friends for this Fourth of July, maybe cooking up some good food (barbecue is a frequent choice) and watching fireworks.
In doing so, you will celebrate in a fashion not all that different from what happened more than 200 years ago. For the first celebration in 1777, people had bonfires, parades and fired cannons in Philadelphia.
If you want a conversation starter or two, here are some fun facts about the Fourth of July.
- John Adams reportedly disliked that July 4 became the main celebration day. He believed Independence Day should be celebrated on July 2 because that is when the resolution of independence officially passed.
- Both Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826.
- During some of the earliest Independence Day celebrations, colonists held mock funerals for British King George III.
- In 1779, George Washington gave Continental Army soldiers double portions of rum to celebrate the holiday.
- Massachusetts became the first state to make July 4 an official holiday, doing so in 1781.
- The U.S. Congress did not make July 4 a federal holiday until 1870. It wasn’t until 1941 that it was made a holiday in which federal employees were granted a day off with full pay. Most private employers followed suit.
- “The Star-Spangled Banner” did not exist during the Revolutionary War. The lyrics came from an 1814 poem written by Francis Scott Key after witnessing the British attack Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. It officially became the national anthem in 1931.
- Early Independence Day celebrations were often loud, political, and rowdy. By the early 1900s, the holiday became more focused on family gatherings, leisure, and community celebrations.
There you have it, a few fun facts about the Fourth of July to use as a conversation starter at your next party. Just hope you guests are more like Washington handing out free rum than Adams, who probably wouldn’t show up!
