Because the 4th of July is tomorrow I decided to get myself in the mood for the 4th of July, I thought that one way I could do that would be to do some research on our nations flag. Some of the information that I found was quite interesting to me.
Congress first authorized the United States Flag on June 14, 1777, the day we currently celebrate Flag Day in America. This date is also significant in that it qualifies our flag as the third oldest of the National Standards of the world, even older than Britain’s Union Jack.
The flag was First flown from Fort Stanwix, on the site of the present city of Rome, New York, on August 3, 1777, the flag had a tumultuous beginning, going through the Battle of Oriskany when it was only three days old on August 6, 1777.
The flag’s original design called for a star and a stripe for each state, making thirteen of each, to correspond to the original thirteen colonies. In 1791, Vermont was admitted to the union, followed by Kentucky in 1792. The number of stars and stripes was accordingly raised to fifteen. As other states joined, it was clear something would have to be done about the ever-expanding flag. An act of Congress in 1818 reduced and restricted the number of stripes on the flag to thirteen. A star would be added for each new state.
The individual stars depicting the states represent the power of our Federal Constitution, which reserves to the States their individual sovereignty, except as to rights delegated by them to the Federal Government.
George Washington said of the flag’s symbolism, “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing Liberty.”
Independence Day
Independence Day is the national holiday of the United States of America commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
At the time of the signing the US consisted of 13 colonies under the rule of England’s King George III. Leading up to the signing, there had been growing unrest in the colonies surrounding the taxes that colonists were required to pay to England. The major objection was “Taxation without Representation” — the colonists had no say in the decisions of English Parliament.
Rather than negotiating, King George sent extra troops to the colonies to help control any rebellion that might be arising. The following timeline will give you a crash course in the history that lead to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and America’s break from British rule.
1774 – The 13 colonies send delegates to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to form the First Continental Congress. While unrest was brewing, the colonies were far from ready to declare war.
April 1775 — King George’s troops advance on Concord, Massachusetts, prompting Paul Revere’s midnight ride that sounded the alarm “The British are coming, the British are coming.”
The subsequent battle of Concord, famous for being the “shot heard round the world,” would mark the unofficial beginning of the American Revolution.
May 1776 — After nearly a year of trying to work our their differences with England, the colonies again send delegates to the Second Continental Congress.
June 1776 — Admitting that their efforts were hopeless, a committee was formed to compose the formal Declaration of Iindependence. Headed by Thomas Jefferson, the committee also included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman.
June 28, 1776 — Jefferson presents the first draft of the declaration to congress.
July 4, 1776 — After various changes to Jefferson’s original draft, a vote was taken late in the afternoon of July 4th. Of the 13 colonies, 9 voted in favor of the Declaration; 2, Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted No; Delaware was undecided and New York abstained.
John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. It is said that he signed his name “with a great flourish” so “King George can read that without spectacles!”
July 6, 1776 — The Pennsylvania Evening Post is the first newspaper to print the Declaration of Independence.
July 8, 1776 — The first public reading of the declaration takes place in Philadelphia’s Independence Square. The bell in Independence Hall, then known as the “Province Bell” would later be renamed the “Liberty Bell” after its inscription – “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof.”
August 1776 – The task begun on July 4, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was not actually completed until August. Nonetheless, the 4th of July has been accepted as the official anniversary of United States independence from Britain.
July 4, 1777 — The first Independence Day celebration takes place. It’s interesting to speculate what those first 4th festivities were like. By the early 1800s the traditions of parades, picnics, and fireworks were firmly established as part of American Independence Day culture.
