What are the Origins of the 4th of July Celebration?

Although the 4th of July isn’t complete without American flags, barbecues and multiple visits to your local party supply store, there is an extensive history behind the holiday.  Learning all about the history of the 4th of July is crucial to understanding and appreciating the national holiday.

Colonization

England began colonizing the east coast of North America in the early 1600s. These colonists were by the very nature of this effort adventurous and strong-minded. As the colonies grew over the next century or so, so too did colonial resentment of being ruled across several thousand miles of ocean by a man who knew nothing of real life in North America.

The Boston Massacre

The American Revolution began in 1763 at the end of the French and Indian War, the North American theater of a global conflict called the Seven Years’ War. The English Parliament wanted the colonies to pay more for their own defense and the English King wanted to re-assert royal control over regions that had become restive. The English Parliament passed several measures to accomplish those goals. The American colonists, having no representation in these matters, considered these laws invalid. On March 5, 1770, a mob of Boston civilians, angry over the increased taxes, fought in the streets with British soldiers, resulting in the death of four colonials. This incident became known as the Boston Massacre.

The Boston Tea Party

Throughout the colonies in 1772, the first local Committees of Correspondence and several Provincial Congresses were formed to replace the regional British governors. King George III was outraged and sent more troops to quell the rebellion by dissolving local governments and imposing direct British royal rule. On December 16, 1773, the Boston Tea Party further angered the English by destroying cargo before it could be unloaded and recorded for taxation.

Declaration of Independence

In 1774, the colonies all sent representatives to the First Continental Congress, whose purpose was to negotiate with the English King over the American grievances, the list of which is now considered the first draft of the Declaration of Independence of the following year.

However, military conflict continued despite the lack of legitimizing paperwork. The first official conflict of the American Revolution took place on April 19, 1775: the Battle of Lexington and Concord. George Washington was soon after given command of the Continental Army, which fought the British for eight years until the British surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1783.

In the spring of 1776, 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and approved a Resolution of Independence on July 2, 1776. Thomas Jefferson drafted a Declaration of Independence that explained the reasons for and the goals of that resolution. After some debate and revision, the Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776. The 13 American colonies were no longer part of the British Empire.

National Holiday

One year after that signing, on July 4, 1777, even though the Continental Army was still fighting British troops, Philadelphia celebrated the day with fireworks, bells, noisemakers and bonfires. The annual custom spread throughout the new country, where Independence Day came to mean speeches, parades, picnics, games and fireworks.

The celebration became even more widespread after the end in 1815 of a second war with England, the War of 1812. In 1870, the U.S. Congress finally and officially established the fourth day of July as Independence Day, a national holiday.