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July
4***
The birthday of the United States of
America. It is celebrated on July 4 each year throughout the US as the anniversary of the day on which the Declaration
of Independence (was adopted by the Continental
Congress : July 4, 1776. The historic document in which
the American Colonies declared their freedom from British
rule.)
EVENTS LEADING TO
THE DECLARATION:
Friction between the American Colonies and Britain had
been building for more than 10 years before the Declaration
was adopted. During that period, the colonies had asked
Britain for a larger role in making decisions that
affected them, especially in the area of taxation. The British Parliament passed various tax laws and the colonies kept
protesting for a long time. Finally the Parliament passed
a law stating it had the right to legislate for the
colonies in all matters.
1767. The British
Parliament placed a tax on certain goods imported into the
colonies, colonial opposition led Parliament to remove these
taxes in 1770 - except for the tax on tea.
1773
angry colonists boarded British ships in Boston Harbor
and dumped their cargoes of tea overboard. Parliament
then passed a series of laws to punish Massachusetts.
These laws led the colonies to unite against what the y
called the Intolerable Acts.
THE CONTINENTAL
CONGRESS:
1774 delegates from all colonies except Georgia met in
Philadelphia at the First Continental Congress,
where they adopted an agreement that bound the colonies
not to trade with Britain or to use British goods. They
also proposed another meeting the next year if Britain did
not change its policies before that time.
Britain held to its policies and the Second
Continental Congress was called on May 10, 1775 in
Philadelphia. By that time the Revolutionare War
in America had already begun, with battles between
Massachusetts colonists and British troops.
Congress
voted to organize an army and a navy and to issue money
to pay for the war. Many delegates now believed that
independence from Britain was the only solution; others
disagreed. Therefore the Congress sent a final, useless
appeal to King George III, in July, to remedy the
colonists' grievamces.
The
independence movement grew rapidly in 1776. On June 7
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced the resolution
in Congress "That these United Colonies are, and
of right ought to be, free and independent
States..." It was the first time in an official
document that the colonies were referred to as the United
States of America.
Thomas
Jefferson drafted the resolution in about 2 weeks.
Benjamin Franklin and John Adams made a few minor
literary changes.
ADOPTION OF THE
DECLARATION:
On July 2, Congress approved the Lee resolution. The
delegates then began to debate Jefferson's draft.
On July 4, 1776 Congress adopted the final draft of
the Declaration of Independence.
It was read to a large crowd in the State House yard
on July 8, and eventually it was signed by 56 members of
Congress.
EARLY AND MODERN
OBSERVANCE:
July 4 1777 Independence Day was first observed in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Declaration was
read, bells were rung, bands played and the people
rejoiced. It has been celebrated throughout the country
since then.
Until 1783 the War of Independence dragged on,
and in that year I-Day was made an official
holiday.
In early days, I-Days were occasions for shows,
games, sports, military music and fireworks. Fireworks
and the firing of guns and cannons caused hundreds of
deaths and thousands of injuries each year. In the early
1900īs many people began to plead for a safe and sane
Fourth of July. As a result, many cities and states passed
laws forbidding the sale of fireworks. Some cities
permitted fireworks, but hired trained people to explode
them.
1941 Congress declared July 4 a federal public
holiday.
Today many Americans simply call it the Fourth of
July and they celebrate with picnics, patriotic
speeches, fireworks and parades. In Flagstaff, Arizona
American Indians hold a 3-day pow-wow around the 4th of
July. The ship U.S.S. John F. Kennedy comes in full sail
to Boston Harbor in Massachusetts.
*** In US Virgin Islands celebrations are held a week
prior to the climax on the 4th of July.
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