Independence Day represents more than celebration of the nation’s birth

By Linda Cicoira

Parades, fireworks, barbeques, and celebrations of America’s independence will be offered during the long upcoming weekend. But not everyone agrees that July 4th is the correct time to kick off the holiday. And likely others will be busy commemorating different things that day.

Our second president, John Adams, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, argued that July 2 was the correct date to celebrate. That was the day the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence.

Adams was so firm in that belief that he reportedly turned down invitations to July 4 events as a kind of protest. Oddly enough, Adams and Thomas Jefferson, our third president and the one who drafted the declaration, both died on the same day 50 years later on July 4, 1826. In another coincidence, in the previous year on the same day, our fifth president, James Monroe, passed away.

An internet search for holidays shows a slew of reasons for jubilee on July 4th that have nothing to do with striking out on one’s own. It seems it is also National Country Music Day, Alice in Wonderland Day, National Caesar Salad Day, National Barbequed Spareribs Day, Invisible Day, and most dreaded reason to party, Sidewalk Egg-Frying Day.

July 4th also marks the day slaves were freed in 1827 in New York. It was the opening day of the military academy at West Point in 1802, and the day Hotmail went live in 1996.

July 4th has also been a groundbreaking day. On July 4, 1817, the ground was broken on the Erie Canal. On July 4, 1828, the ground was broken at the Baltimore Harbor for on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

The Western Samoa Time Zone was altered in 1892. Because it was a leap year, the change caused Western Samoa to have two July 4ths back-to-back, for a total of 367 calendar days that year.

On July 4th, 1845, Texas agreed to join the United States. The 50th star on the American Flag was ceremoniously added on July 4, 1960. And the Freedom of Information Act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson on July 4, 1966, mandating the disclosure of certain information held by the government.

The tradition of setting off fireworks to celebrate independence began in Philadelphia on July 4, 1777, during the first organized celebration. A ship’s cannon fired a 13-gun salute in honor of the colonies. On the same night, the famous Sons of Liberty set fireworks off over Boston Common.

Photo: Accomac Parade 2019