July 4th is incredibly significant in American history because it marks the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted (July 4, 1776) and the United States officially became its own nation. Before this date, America was comprised of 13 Colonies established by the Brits: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The first colony was settled in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. European countries, especially Great Britain, continued to colonize America throughout the 17th century and a good portion of the 18th century. By 1775, an estimated 2.5 million settlers lived in the 13 Colonies. What led the colonists to seek independence? Tensions started brewing when Great Britain passed legislation that gave it more control within the Colonies, especially when it came to taxing. The Crown was in debt after the French and Indian War, so it started taxing the American Colonies to boost revenue. The passage of legislation like the Stamp Act in March 1765, the Townshend Acts in June and July of 1767, and the Tea Act of 1773 forced colonists to pay more money to Great Britain\u2014even though the Colonies didn\u2019t have a say in the Crown\u2019s policies. This became known as taxation without representation, a concept that was a heated pillar in the American Revolution. Events like the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party further escalated tensions between British soldiers and American colonists. Those tensions exploded in April 1775, when the Battles of Lexington and Concord broke out in Massachusetts as British forces attempted to confiscate weapons from the colonists. It was the first time Colonial militias battled British troops, and thus, the American Revolutionary War began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast-forward to a June 1776 Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia. Here, Virginia statesman Richard Henry Lee proposed a motion for the Colonies to declare independence from Britain. A committee was formed to draft an official independence document, which became known as the Declaration of Independence. On July 2, 1776, Lee\u2019s motion for independence was approved. Two days later, the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted\u2014and America became a free nation. After declaring independence, America continued to fight in the Revolutionary War and officially defeated Great Britain in September 1783.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some interesting 4th of July facts every American should know. \u00a8 Some colonists celebrated Independence Day during the summer of 1776 by putting on mock funerals for King George III of England\u2014symbolizing the death of the Crown\u2019s rule on America. \u00a8 The first annual commemoration of Independence Day happened on July 4, 1777, in Philadelphia. \u00a8 John Adams, a Founding Father and the second president of the United States, strongly believed Independence Day should be celebrated on July 2. He even refused to attend 4th of July events because he felt so strongly about July 2 being the correct date. \u00a8 Thomas Jefferson was the first president to celebrate Independence Day at the White House, in 1801. The celebration featured horse races, parades, food and drinks. \u00a8 Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died July 4, 1826. \u00a8 James Monroe, another U.S. president, also died on July 4th in 1831. \u00a8 People would attend bonfires, concerts and parades to celebrate their new nation. It was also common for the Declaration of Independence to be read aloud, followed by muskets and cannons firing. It\u2019s safe to say, the earliest Americans celebrated the 4th of July loudly and proudly! Over time, those activities evolved into the Independence Day traditions we know and love today. \u00a8 Although the 4th of July has been celebrated each year since 1776, it didn\u2019t become a federal holiday until 1870. And it didn\u2019t become a paid holiday for federal employees until 1941<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HAVE A FUN & SAFE INDEPENDENCE DAY!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" July 4th is incredibly significant in American history because it marks the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted (July 4, 1776) and the United States officially became its own nation. Before this date, America was comprised of 13 Colonies established by the Brits: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, New York, New Jersey,… Continue reading Why Do We Celebrate the 4th of July?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[178,179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin","category-marks-messages","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3628"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3629,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3628\/revisions\/3629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tannerchurchofchrist.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}