In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.
Background
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.[4] After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:“ The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.[5] ”
Adams’ prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.[6]
One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.[7][8] The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the Declaration on the fourth.[9] Most delegates actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776.[10] In a remarkable series of coincidences, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two founding fathers of the United States and the only two men who signed the Declaration of Independence to become president, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the United States’ 50th anniversary. President James Monroe died exactly five years later, on July 4, 1831, but he was not a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.
Observance
An 1825 invitation to an Independence Day celebration
In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired, once at morning and again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.[11]
In 1778, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute. Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.[12]
In 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday. The holiday was celebrated on Monday, July 5.[12]
In 1781, the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration.[12]
In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina, held a celebration of July 4 with a challenging music program assembled by Johann Friedrich Peter. This work was titled “The Psalm of Joy”.
In 1791 the first recorded use of the name “Independence Day” occurred.
In 1870, the U.S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees.[13]
In 1938, Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday.[14]
Customs
Fireworks over Miami, Florida, on Independence Day, 2007. Bank of America Tower is also lit with the red, white, and blue color scheme.
New York City’s fireworks display explodes over the East Village.
Independence Day is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays. Similar to other summer-themed events, Independence Day celebrations often take place outdoors. Independence Day is a federal holiday, so all non-essential federal institutions (like the postal service and federal courts) are closed on that day. Many politicians make it a point on this day to appear at a public event to praise the nation’s heritage, laws, history, society, and people.
Families often celebrate Independence Day by hosting or attending a picnic or barbecue and take advantage of the day off and, in some years, long weekend to gather with relatives. Decorations (e.g., streamers, balloons, and clothing) are generally colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. Parades often are in the morning, while fireworks displays occur in the evening at such places as parks, fairgrounds, or town squares.
Independence Day fireworks are often accompanied by patriotic songs such as the national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner”, “God Bless America”, “America the Beautiful”, “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”, “This Land Is Your Land”, “Stars and Stripes Forever”, and, regionally, “Yankee Doodle” in northeastern states and “Dixie” in southern states. Some of the lyrics recall images of the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812.
Firework shows are held in many states, and many fireworks are sold for personal use or as an alternative to a public show. Safety concerns have led some states to ban fireworks or limit the sizes and types allowed. Illicit traffic transfers many fireworks from less restrictive states.
A salute of one gun for each state in the United States, called a “salute to the union,” is fired on Independence Day at noon by any capable military base.[15]
Major displays are held in New York on the East River, in Chicago on Lake Michigan, in San Diego over Mission Bay, in Boston on the Charles River, in St. Louis on the Mississippi River, and on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. During the annual Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival, Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, host one of the world’s largest fireworks displays, over the Detroit River, to celebrate both American Independence Day and Canada Day.
While the official observance always falls on July 4th, participation levels may vary according to which day of the week the 4th falls on. If the holiday falls in the middle of the week, some fireworks displays and celebrations may take place during the weekend for convenience, again, varying by region.
Unique or historical celebrations
Originally entitled Yankee Doodle, this is one of several versions of a scene painted by A. M. Willard that came to be known as The Spirit of ‘76. Often imitated or parodied, it is a familiar symbol of American patriotism.
Held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States.
Since 1912, the Rebild Society, a Danish-American friendship organization, has held a July 4th weekend festival that serves as a homecoming for Danish-Americans in the Rebild section of Denmark.[16]
Since 1916, Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City supposedly started as a way to settle a dispute among four immigrants as to who was the most patriotic.
Since 1959, the International Freedom Festival is jointly held in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario during the last week of June each year as a mutual celebration of Independence Day and Canada Day (July 1). It culminates in a large fireworks display over the Detroit River.
Numerous major and minor league baseball games are played on Independence Day.
The famous Macy’s fireworks display over the East River in New York City has been televised nationwide on NBC since 1976.
Since 1970, the annual 10 kilometer Peachtree Road Race is held in Atlanta, Georgia.
Since 1973, the Boston Pops Orchestra hosts a music and fireworks show over the Charles River Esplanade. In recent years it too is televised nationwide as “Pops Goes the Fourth.”
On the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., “A Capitol Fourth,” a free concert, precedes the fireworks and attracts over half a million people annually.
Thanks To wikipedia.org
Rowe, an Australian nurse, who married Jackson in 1996 and divorced him three years later, is the mother of singer’s two elder children– Michael Joseph, 12, Paris, 11.
Jackson’s third child Michael Jackson II, known as Blanket, 7, was delivered by an unknown surrogate mother. The pop star died at the age of 50 last week.
“I want my children. They are my flesh and blood. I’m going after my children,” Rowe, 50, said in an interview to NBC in her first official comment over the issue.
Rowe gave up her rights to her two kids after her divorce in 1999, with Jackson getting the full custody and Rowe is said to have had little contact with them after her divorce and Jackson’s 2002 will cuts her out from any parental rights.
But Rowe said that she would seek a restraining order to keep Jackson’s father, Joe Jackson, away from the children.
“I am stepping up. I have to,” she told the reporter. However, her attorney, Eric M George later clarified that Rowe had not made a final decision to fight the case.
He did not refute the interview but said, “It would be a distortion of the truth to allow that single snapshot of a single conversation to stand as the truth of Debbie’s position on these sensitive matters.”
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Today’s Calls
The Delhi High Court on Thursday ruled that gay sex among consenting adults was no crime. The court said that section 377 of the IPC – which criminalised an act of consensual sex among adults – is a violation of the constitution and fundamental rights.
Though a historic judgement, India must never be allowed to forget that it has been a long and often harrowing journey for its queer community.
For a hundred and forty nine years the gay community in India has been mistreated. Often being arrested, threatened, blackmailed and sexually exploited with a tool called Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. An archaic law introduced by the British – though ironically removed from the British law books.
Being booked under Section 377, a cognisable offence means that a policeman can pick you up based on just suspicion.
“In the 60′s I walked into a police trap. I went with a friend to a particular location that was used for sex and we were casually in the area and these cops turned up and they accused us of having sex,” said gay rights activist, Sunil Gupta.
“They decided to pick on me and I was unprepared for this and didn’t know how to handle the situation, so they beat me up and then they moved on to blackmailing me,” he added.
Section 377 also implies that two people in a same sex relationship have no rights. They cannot own property together, cannot adopt and do not have any conjugal rights.
“I’ve been with my partner for six and a half years and when we want to open a bank account or some thing we cannot have each other as nominees, we cannot show our relationships on visas,” said a person of the gay community, Amit (name changed to protect identity).
However, over the years, the Indian gay community has risen from invisibility.
They went to the judiciary in 2001 to ask for consensual same sex relations to be made legal, to remind the courts that the law was a Victorian hand-me-down.
In 2006 two tribal women from Orissa became poster girls for the lesbian movement in India. Thirty two-year-old Anita (name changed to protect identity) and 24-year-old Nisha (name changed to protect identity), both escaped from abusive marriages to be with each other.
“We live together and the villagers let us be. We would like to own our own house some day,” said Anita.
In the past few years, the gay community came out of the closet. They marched the streets of India and shouted, ‘we are here, we are queer, we are you’.
Today, as the first step towards legalising homosexuality is taken – it’s a moment these men and women will remember.
“What we feel about love is the same as what you feel. We have been together for 10 years. You cannot say that is nothing. This is something as basic as the right to love. Who are you to say what we feel is not love,” a person of the gay community whose identity has been witheld.
The gay community is overjoyed and are not shying away from expressing their happiness, “I am not ashamed of being gay,” said Amit (name changed to protect identity). “Now I can be proud of being gay,” said Rohit (name changed to protect identity). “It will be nice to take the man of my dreams to a bar and not have the bouncers throw us out ,” said Jai
Shiv Prakash Maurya, student, Allahabad
I don’t agree with the court ruling. There is no homosexuality in India, it’s part of Western culture.
The legalising of homosexuality means that we are losing our Indian identity. That’s not a good decision because it will increase the immorality in our country.
When two men hold hands, that can only be brotherly relationship.
I come from a rural part of India. The majority of the people in my village don’t even know what gay means.
I was completely unaware that such a thing existed until three years ago when I went to university in Delhi.
You’ll find that people in rural India are against this ruling while people in the big cities are more supportive.
Siddharth Singh, 21, NGO worker, New Delhi
Siddharth: It will take a long time for attitudes to change
I welcome the court ruling – we are finally moving in the right direction. Homosexual people, at least legally, can now be equal to the rest of us.
I’ve met many gay and lesbian people through my work. They’ve shared some of the difficulties they had to live with – they couldn’t go to the doctor for example, out of fear that they might be reported and arrested.
I’ve heard of incidents at gay gatherings where police were asking for money in exchange for keeping quiet.
India is still a very conservative society and I think that it will take another couple of decades for attitudes to change and for social equality for everyone to be achieved.
That will take even longer in rural parts of India.
It is sad that hours after the announcement, various religious groups have started to protest, denouncing Western influences and predicting the destruction of Indian family values.
I fear that the Indian government might buckle under the pressure from such religious groups, as they form a big part of their vote bank.
Susham Gupta, 37, psychiatrist, from Calcutta now in London
The court ruling is a courageous – and a long delayed move. If India wants to be seen as a modern democracy, it can’t hold back on such social issues any longer pandering to those with bigoted and uneducated views.
The first, and smallest, hurdle is overcome, but the bigger challenge now will be to bring about a change in social attitudes.
I fear that things will get worse before they get better. India is a complicated society and there might be a backlash. This development might bring out people’s anxieties. Gay people may have to go underground, as there are no organisations and networks in place to provide support to them in this process.
It’s too late for us, but the next generation will hopefully have a better chance
Susham Gupta
I left India 10 years ago primarily because of my sexuality. I’ve seen how my gay friends ended up in unhappy marriages, being forced to lead a dual life.
I was luckier than others because my liberal, middle-class family was understanding and supportive when I came out to them.
But I found that it was impossible to have a gay relationship in India. It was a toxic and extremely lonely environment. I felt extreme lack of self-confidence and a pressure to be something else.
Harassments are common as are views that gays are freaks. Others think that being gay is a lifestyle choice. Believe me, it’s not.
I go back to India often and I see signs of improvement. I’ve heard the word “gay” being used as a light-hearted mild offence, which shows a slight shift of perceptions.
It will be a slow process and it’s too late for us, but the next generation will hopefully have a better chance.
Dr PV Cherian, medical doctor, Chennai
I am not very happy about this ruling.
I am a Christian believer and I think homosexuality is a sickness affecting men and women, that is increasing these days in our affluent materialistic society.
God intended us to enjoy normal sex between faithful heterosexual married partners.
Discrimination is not a good thing and I everyone should enjoy freedom of choice. But freedom of choice is a dangerous thing, because sometimes we choose the wrong things. Freedom is harmful.
I pray for homosexual people to realise their mistake. They need to be educated.
