Happy Fourth of July….
It is the day we celebrate our independence with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
There is some debate and mystery to when the actual document was signed as far as we know the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on the 1st of July, and voted in favor of independence and then after many rewrites, the agreed upon document was written and signed by a few of the signers, then a few were printed, on July the fourth of 1776.
Several copies were printed on the 5th of July and were sent out to the 13 colonies, local officials and to the troops.
There is quite a bit of debate about exactly when everyone signed. All the signatures of the Declaration of Independence we now have were put on the document from the 4th of July and many on the 19th and then more after August 2nd of 1776.
Origins of this information and more interesting information can be found at these various sites:
http://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-declaration-of-independence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence
http://www.education.com/question/date-declaration-independence-signed
Watch this Video on A Better Way To Fight Harmful Free Radicals
Maybe it’s because we as veterans don’t make it a priority when we speak of “that” day.
Take a look at “July 4th” and what do you see?
Everyone I know thinks it’s: a getaway weekend; store sales; or fireworks.
Until we start calling it by its rightful name how are we expected to believe everyone else will too.
I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating Independence Day.
Author, as a recommendation, you should also mention somewhere in your writing that the holiday isn’t called the “Fourth of July”, “4th of July”, “July the Fourth”, “July 4th” or “The 4th”. Those names aren’t to be used interchangeably with “Independence Day”
In all actuality, the holiday itself is named “Independence Day”, as a commemoration of our nation’s declaration of independence from British rule. As veteran’s it behooves us to encourage everyone to use the correct terminology instead of continuing to perpetuate the problem. Continue, and we shall soon have a populace which does not know, much less care, why we celebrate the day.
To paraphrase a good friend of mine, one doesn’t simply wish another a Merry December 25th, a Happy January the 1st or even thank a Veteran on November the 11th. All of those holidays have names as well…and no one has any issues using them.
Why is that?
Why does the term “Independence Day” have such distinction that nobody wants to utter the phrase?