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Origin Of Holidays - The Story Of Independence Day

Independence Day is most commonly known as the 4th of July and is the birthday of the Declaration of Independence which marked the start of the United States of America. Although it is celebrated on July 4th each year in the United States, it is not the date when all 13 of the original colonies signed the document which took a few years to get to the final document we all know.

The Declaration of Independence was written by our Founding Fathers declaring America's independence. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston were appointed to write this document. It was changed 47 times before independence was actually declared on July 2, 1776. John Hancock signed it first on July 4, 1776. Independence Day was first observed in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. Due to the travel time and distance, not every colony was actually aware that independence had actually be declared at the time and some were reluctant to sign the document for fear of reprecussions by the British Army.

The 13 Colonies were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia. With the declaration and intent to separate from Mother England, a flag was created to rally the people around the cause. 13 Stars and stripes were to symbolize the colonies. On June 14, 1777, at Philadelphia, the Marine Committee of the Second Continental Congress offered the resolution which resulted in the adoption of the Flag of the United States. Congress ordered that after July 4, 1818, the flag should have thirteen stripes, symbolizing the thirteen original states, that the union would have twenty stars, and that a new star should be added on the July 4th following admission of a new state. According to the Department of State, red stands for hardiness and courage, white is the symbol of purity and innocence, and blue is the color of vigilance, perseverance, and justice.

In this era of political correctness, people want to brow beat someone who shows patriotism, especially for this country as if it were self-glorifying and a slap in the face at other countries who do not enjoy our same freedoms. While a lot of the sentiment may be misguided due to oversimplified, sugar-coated history fables of our founding fathers, it still does not make what happened any less great.

The fact is that those of us who live in the United States do have a great amount of freedom that is not given to people of other countries. Although there are countries out there that do have greater freedoms in some areas, many of the "civilized" countries are on par with our freedoms and liberties. And at the rate we are going, by asking the government to step in to protect each different cause, we do so at the risk of our freedoms and liberties.

We have a safety net in place to assist people in their pursuit to liberty, justice and happiness which is not at all expected in most of the world. Again, like most civilized societies today, we are not the only ones who have a government which offers some help to those in need. It may not make those who need the help get all of their needs met, but consider in most third world countries NO needs are met by the government at all and are at the mercy of charitable groups who cannot always reach the ones in greatest need. It would be a miserable thing to be poor and sick in this country, but it is a far cry from being a poor and sick person in Ethiopia.

And true, most of us are self-centered to exclude and discount other countries. But be serious! Tell me what country is not filled with people who are proud of their history, land and heritage to the exclusion of what other nations think. Why do you think there is so much war? The countries who hate the US for such reasons are usually full of that same kind of pride themselves.

Yes, the United States is a great place to be with a lot of freedom we do take for granted, but we do have our faults even if we don't want to admit them. At least, in spite of all our faults, we do try to roll with the changes and have overcome many milestones. We may have a long way to go, but there is no such thing as making a place where life is fair for everyone. To assume such a thing is to live in a fairy tale land. Life is not always fair period. In order for overall freedom to work, there has to be a give and take which is what people today do not want to consider.

Those who took it upon themselves to separate from England risked their lives, liberty and well being to protect their interests in future stakes of all this land. It was not at all to be free from a tyrant of a king who ordered oppressive taxes without reason, but really due to greed. It would not matter one iota to those who did not have a stake in the riches of this new world if the fight for independence was won or lost unless they fought in the battle and could be treated as a traitor. To many of the working stiffs who were merely just trying to survive, this war was just something to deal with and to be entered only when necessary for personal survival. In light of that time, it was quite a task to undertake and it should never be taken for granted what the Founding Fathers and early Army did.

This country was in fact started to have the rich, white land owners to be free from taxations and laws they felt oppressive. The laws and taxes from England were in exchange for protection and aid in helping the new colonies to become established and keep other countries from trying to take over the land. Both the land owners and England had a great stake in keeping other countries out, but in the end, those who lived here wanted it all for themselves, even if it meant defending the country on their own, without the help of the King.

This self-proclaimed liberation was followed by a war which heaped many casualties among the settlers and was almost a total disaster. Fortunately, the troops were eventually able to even the score and overthrow the British Army finally allowing this country to breathe free and clear. This freedom was only given to the white, Christian men at first. Natives to this land were not considered under the same protection of the new laws. And while there were free black men and those of the Jewish faith in this country at the time, they were not always accorded the same freedoms reserved to the Christian white men. In the states which allowed slavery, it was even worse. Women were totally out of consideration of any freedom as they were the property of the men who kept them.

As time went on, freedoms were granted upon the black men, the Natives, and then to the women. People like to point to the history of white men oppressing minorities and women and insist they must pay for what happened in the past. In a way, things are better, but there is still a long way to go. Racism and sexism are very much present. In the mix of those battles are the divisions of political parties, religions, and cultures which clash, not to mention the causes of big business and nonprofit organizations. Nothing will ever be fair to everyone, it is all a give and take!! If we live by that, we can survive anything. After all, isn't that why the Founding Fathers developed the checks and balance system?

So what if George Washington never chopped down a cherry tree and told the truth or if Thomas Jefferson had a lengthy affair with one of his slaves. Many of the stories have be over-glorified or villianized leading to both extremes of the sickening type of patriotism to politically correctness which nullifies the facts of the time.

What happened, happened. It led to where we are today and it is in this moment we have a chance to shape what the future will hold. We are not exactly a unified country, in spite of the events of 9/11/01. Most of us are disgusted at that act of terrorism, but that is where the similarities end on issues as how to handle the problem, the root cause, our place in international affairs, religions... the lists go on! But isn't it great? That is what makes us Americans! We should be proud of the fact that there are so many opinions allowed to be expressed. We probably should hang our heads in shame over some of the excesses we enjoy, but who says we must! The US is like a kid in a candy store with a lot of money and permission to buy anything - we can go wild and run amok, but in the end we mostly have a safety net other countries would not put up with. Sure people fall through the cracks of protection here all the time, but in other countries it could be worse.

So when July 4th comes around, try and appreciate what makes this a great country by lighting up the skies with fireworks, barbecues, and enjoying the tales of history or the even more interesting historical facts.