What Do You Really Know About the Fourth of July?

Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, is one of the few holidays that everyone in this country celebrates together. Its history has been told over and over again, and most everyone knows it's based on the day that the Declaration of Independence was approved. But there are some common misconceptions about why that date is significant that most people just don’t know, and a few things about the holiday which may in fact surprise you.

July 4th, 1776 was actually NOT the day we declared our independence, it was the day that the Continental Congress agreed on the the phrasing of the Declaration. They had declared our freedom from Great Britain a few days prior on July 2nd. The Fourth of July was also in actuality not the day the Declaration was endorsed, most did that on August 2nd after an officially copy was engrossed by a calligrapher onto parchment paper. If you think those quirks are surprising, wait till you hear this one. The only two men who signed the historic document, and eventually became President, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, both died on the exact same day: July 4th, 1826.

Independence Day has also not been the official national holiday as we know it nowadays. People always celebrated by throwing parties and dressing in patriotic costumes, with firework displays common in big cities, but it took long time to become an official holiday. In 1781 Massachusetts declared it a “state celebration” but the next modification to its status didn’t come for almost a hundred years. The United States government finally decided to make it an official workers holiday in 1870; however despite getting the day off it was an unpaid holiday. That remained the status quot until 1938 when it at last became the official paid holiday we know and love it as today.

This slow development from just a celebration to one of the biggest and most spectacular holidays in the world is a big part of American history that is sorely overlooked when talking about the history of the holiday. Most people just know that it was based on the date that appears on the Declaration of Independence, so spread some patriotism and tell your friends about this little slice of history this Fourth of July!