The 4th of July is a day on which you will see lots of patriotic displays including many, many flags. Here is a
website that lists proper flag etiquette so we can all make sure we are treating the Star Spangled Banner, as she is known thanks to
Francis Scott Key, with respect!
Time for some Independence Day Facts & Trivia!
*Did you know that the men at the Continental Congress actually voted to become independent on
July 2, 1776 but approved the official wording of the Declaration of Independence (penned by Thomas Jefferson) on July 4, hence our holiday? Congress signed this document a month later on August 2nd. So what we are actually celebrating on the July 4th is our forefathers approving the Declaration of Independence (we would have to then fight a long and arduous war with England in order to officially become independent).
*Although John Hancock's signature is the largest on the Declaration of Independence, it is not because he wanted to "make the King see it without his glasses on" as many stories have been told. Most likely his signature was so big simply because he was the first to sign it and had the most room on the document to do so and he was also the
President of Congress at the time and could have been the first and only person to sign this very first copy before it went to print. Furthermore, the myth doesn't really work because the D of I was actually intended to inform the American colonists, and others around the globe, of the many reasons why the Congress had voted to become independent from England. It wasn't specifically created to be sent to King George III but rather to gain support for independence here in America.
Here I am in Independence Hall (Philadelphia) where the Continental Congress met*Paul Revere was not the only one to take the famous "midnight ride" to warn his fellow Patriots that the "British were coming". There were actually two other men, Samuel Prescott and William Dawson, who were with him and as many as 40 other riders who were on similar missions. On a side note, it is actually very unlikely that Revere ever said "The British are coming" because the hillsides were filled with British loyalists and this was a secret mission, so yelling probably wouldn't have been a good tactic. Also, technically, all of the colonists were legally British citizens so yelling this phrase wouldn't make sense.
Revere was actually captured by the British and wasn't able to complete his ride. The reason why we hear about Revere and not the other men is because years later, in an attempt to "woo" a relative of Paul Revere, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
wrote a poem that recounted Revere's "famous midnight ride". The poem (and subsequently a painting) became well known thus shoving Revere into the spotlight of American history legends.
*Want to test your Independence Day IQ? Take this
trivia quiz and impress all your friends at the cookout your are going to!
