This Week in History: The Fourth of July

Happy Independence Day America! It’s your 242nd Birthday!

It was on July 4th, 1776 when the original 13 colonies claimed independence from the seat of the British throne. Well, kind of; the Continental Congress actually declared our independence on July 2nd. Final edits were approved on the 4th, making it the date that was included on the document and the day we celebrate. Thomas Jefferson, our third president, authored the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. 

People were happy to be free from the British. However, for many years, our fledgling country seemed uninterested in its former years. For nearly 20 years, people didn’t celebrate our independence. In the 1820’s and 30’s people became more interested in how our country gained our freedom. It’s been said that some of that may have had to do with the fact that two of the Declaration’s writers, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, died on July 4, 1826. They both died within hours of each other on the 50th anniversary of our adoption of the Declaration of Independence. In 1870, almost 100 years after the Declaration was written, Congress declared July 4th an unpaid holiday for federal employees. In 1941, the government decided to make it a paid holiday along with several other holidays.

Today citizens of the United States celebrate with cookouts, fireworks, and parades to show their pride of our country. All across America, in towns big and small, patriotism is shown by residences of all ages. With flags waving high and fireworks blowing up the sky, remember the men and women that made our freedom possible. From coast to coast this Fourth of July, we will reflect and be thankful for the triumph of the Founding Fathers.