It's more than just the party!!!!!

~~~Happy Independence Day~~~

I know today there are lots of bbq's, lots of grand hooplah and laughter and lots of celebrating going on...I know many of our children don't even recognize or understand the importance of this day, many don't know what this day is celebrated for!!! It is time for a history lesson...I hope that you will sit down with your children and teach them the history of this day...I know that when I look at the flag, not only today, I am reminded of what it has taken for us to have the freedoms we have today, I sit and think about the blood that has been spilled for us to continue to live in these United States and what an honor it is...Don't let another day go by without stopping and giving thanks to God for our soldiers who have stood at the enemy lines ready to give their lives to keep us, the American people, safe! Don't let this day go by without paying homage to the flag, without saluting the military for a job well done and without thanking those that serve today for their dedication and their duty! YES enjoy the festivities, but don't make it just another day to celebrate, celebrate it for what it stands for, when you hear those songs such as "proud to be an American" sing it with gusto and mean it from the bottom of your heart...We have go to take our America back, we have got to honor "ONE NATION UNDER GOD" we have got to teach our little ones the meaning, we have got to light a passion in their hearts so that they will love our country as we do, we have to bring GOD back in the mix, allow him to cleanse our lands and allow him to be the head of all that we do!!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA, the land that I love!!!!!

Independence Day

Displays of fireworks, such as these over the Washington Monument, take place across the United States on Independence Day.

Also called The Fourth of July

The Fourth

Observed by United States

Significance The day the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress

Date July 4

Celebrations Fireworks, Family reunions, Concerts, Barbecues, Picnics, Parades, Baseball games

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.

Background

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.