When you think of the 4th of July, you might think of cookouts, barbeques, fireworks, swimming, summer, and the freedom and independence of America. But did you know there was a lot more than just that? Let’s get into a history lesson about the 4th of July and why it is so amazing!

Independence Day

July 4th, 1776, was a special day, the first independence day for America. This means this was when the United States of America was born! Before America was free, they were ruled by Great Britain. They had to follow their laws without being able to create their own. Congress leaders at the time wanted to have this changed, so they wrote out a very well-known document known as, The Declaration of Independence. This document was written to explain why America should be free from Great Britain and British rule. They got a representative from each colony to sign the document to gain their freedom from Great Britain. But did you know that the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 2nd, so the 4th was actually just a formal announcement to the American people. We could have been celebrating the 4th of July on the second this whole time. Happy 2nd of July, doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?

American Flag

Did you know the flag now was not the original design? Of course, the flag has changed over the years before the 50 stars there were actually 13 stars in a circle to represent the 13 colonies America had at the time: Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. The stars and stripes design were created by the one and only Betsy Ross. She was visited by General George Washington; yes, THE George Washington, but this was before he was the president. He asked her if she could create a design for the new nation at the time. So, she came up with the idea of there being 13 stars and stripes and the stars only having five points; Washington wanted six points, but as you can see that didn’t happen.

Traditions

Since America’s first birthday, Americans have celebrated the 4th of July every year. The first birthday was one of the biggest celebrations, there were parades, speeches, special dinners, and let’s not forget fireworks! Since then, we have continued to carry on the tradition of celebrating. Even though we recognize the 4th as an important day it took almost a hundred years for the federal government to acknowledge the 4th of July as a federal holiday. It was officially recognized as a federal holiday in 1807.

The 4th of July is also a day spent eating. Millions of Americans celebrate the day by enjoying a good hotdog or burger. It is known that Americans consume about 155 million hotdogs on this day which is more than any other day of the year. So that means there’s an average of 74 million Americans grilling these delicious hotdogs. That is a lot of grills and that is a lot of hotdogs! There is even a hotdog eating contest that takes place every year, Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest.