Also known as Independence Day, this was the day in 1776 that the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philidelphia. This day is to celebrate the independence of the thirteen original colonies from England. Unfortunately this is another day, like Memorial Day, most people do not know the meaning of. According to a survey I heard about, a sickeningly small minority of people, particularly young people, do not know WHY we celebrate the Fourth of July, to them it's just an excuse to party, get drunk, etc. I hope this page of mine will inspire people to learn more about why the fourth day of July is so important.
The causes of the breakaway from England goes back to 1763, when the English government decided to levy taxes for the first time on their thirteen colonies in America to help pay for the French & Indian War, which I think was quite fair to do. But like so many capitalist brats, they resisted the taxes. This built up to the Boston Tea Party of 1775 when, in protest of a tax on tea (a key commodity in the colony's economy), several colonists dressed as Native Indians boarded the HMS Beaver and threw the entire load of tea overboard (it is specualted that some of those boxes of tea are preserved in the muck of Boston Harbor). This was the official start of the American Revolution.
In 1776 the colonial government called a session to answer the question of indpendence. It was hotly debated for months, with Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence. For a week debates raged over the content, with many parts being rewritten or deleted. Finally, on July 4, 1776, the Declaration was signed, with John Hancok being the first to sign. The result was the United States of America.
