History of the July 4th Holiday: Let the celebrating begin

When we think of the history of the July 4th Holiday, we think; Fireworks! Picnics! Parades! Barbeques! Red, white, and blue streamers are everywhere. Hot dogs cook on the grill. Children wave small flags. People across America are celebrating. It must be July 4, Independence Day. Everyone has a birthday, and so does America. The United States of America was born on July 4, 1776. Before that, the king of England ruled. On July 4, Americans declared their independence. The United States would become a new nation, with its own laws, leaders, and flag.

In 1776, people celebrated their independence from England. Today, Americans still remember their nation’s birthday. Every July 4 Holiday they celebrate.

History of the July 4th Holiday: Let Freedom Ring

In 1776, our country did not have fifty states. There were just thirteen colonies. These colonies were settlements that belonged to England. They were scattered along the East Coast of North America.

Most of the people in the American colonies were born in England. They came to the colonies hoping for a better life. Some hoped to find freedom in this new land. But many of the colonists did not think they had found that freedom.

King George III ruled England. He also ruled the American colonies. The king asked a lot of the colonists. England was a powerful country. It had many soldiers and weapons, and lots of armed ships. But it took a great deal of money for England to stay that powerful. The thirteen American Colonies created businesses and farmed the land to make money for England.

England’s soldiers protected the American colonies, so England’s king felt that taxes should be paid to him for this protection. A tax is money from the sale of things such as molasses, sugar, stamps, or tea. The colonists believed they were not being taken care of by the king and did not want to pay the taxes. The king sent soldiers to the American colonies to make sure that the taxes were paid. The colonists had to provide places to stay and food for the soldiers.

The colonists decided the king of England was unfair, so they took action. In 1774, a leader from each of the American colonies met in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. This meeting became known as the Continental Congress. The leaders of the colonies talked about the problems they shared. They knew the people wanted things to change, even if it meant fighting for those changes.

By 1775, fighting broke out between the king’s soldiers and the American colonists. The king’s troops had better weapons and more training, but the colonists were fighting for their freedom. They also knew their land well.

The Continental Congress met again in May 1775 This time the leaders of the colonies talked about their goals and their hopes. They argued about what was best for the colonies.

At last, they decided to break away from England’s rule. The colonies would become a new, independent nation. That new nation would be known as the United States of America.

Thomas Jefferson, a leader from the Virginia Colony, was at the Second Continental Congress. The other leaders asked him to write down their ideas. Jefferson knew what the colonists were thinking and feeling. Now he had to write it all down. This was not easy work. Those words would become the plan for a new nation, and those words would make history.

Jefferson worked on the statement from June 11 to June 28. Then he showed it to the other leaders at the Second Continental Congress. They called the statement the Declaration of Independence. The leaders finally agreed on its exact wording on July 4, 1776. This is why July 4, the birthday of the United States, is also called Independence Day.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, people gathered in the streets. They heard the Declaration of Independence read. They cheered and hugged each other as bells rand and bands played.

Colonists in other places celebrated, too. There were parades, and cannons and muskets were fired. There were speeches and special dinners. People celebrated their new nation.

In New York, the colonists were very busy. They tore down a statue of King George III. But they did not want to waste any of the metal from the statue. They needed bullets to fight the British Soldiers. So, they used the metal from the statue to make the bullets.

The colonists needed many bullets. Their struggle for freedom was far from over. They fought King George and his soldiers for seven more years in what is known as the Revolutionary War, or the American Revolution. In 1783, they finally won the war. Now they were no longer colonists. Instead, they were free citizens of the United States of America.

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Independence Day (United States) – Wikipedia

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Everything About the 4th of July Website (celebrate4thofjuly.net)