Tauns’ Blog

The day is upon us to celebrate our Nation’s call for Independence.  In celebration of the 4th of July, this year our family will be attending the Stadium of Fire…yep the sold out event in the Lavelle Edwards Stadium at BYU.  The groups performing will be the Blue man Group and Miley Cyrus, AKA Hannah Montana.  My daughters are ecstatic!  My husband’s work provided all the families with VIP tickets and parking.  We are very excited for the opportunity to celebrate the Fourth of July at the Stadium of Fire.

I was thinking of our excursion tomorrow night and started thinking why fireworks were used to celebrate the 4th of July.  As I looked into the US History of why we had fireworks, I was intrigued by the history that I once knew and have since forgotten.  After reading, I decided to share some of the facts I found on our American History.

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, a name few associate with our Independence, suggested we fight for Independence from Great Britain.  His suggestion was given a second by John Adams, our 2nd President of the United States.  Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States, was asked to write The Declaration.  This was not an easy task for him; overall it took 17 days and 86 changes.  I personally have been to the Jefferson Monument in Washington DC.  His words are eloquent, to say the least.  As you read the passages he wrote, that are now inscribe upon the walls in his Monument, you can see the reason in why Jefferson was the person picked to write our nation’s Declaration of Independence.

 The ratification of the Declaration of Independence took a while.  On July 3, 1776, the men in Congress edited the document so all would be happy with it.  On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the men in that Congressional meeting.  Not all were present on July 4th to adopt the Declaration of Independence; those men voted and adopted the Declaration at a later date.  John Hancock was the only one to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.  Most signatures (56) took place on August 2, 1776 (I must note, one exception to that is Thomas McKean didn’t sign until 1781). 

On July 6, 1776, the first President of the United States, George Washington, read the Declaration of Independence to his troops who were fighting in New York.  After finishing reading, there was a moment of silence.  Following the silence, cheers for independence rang throughout the crowd.

By the way, here is one of the sites that I got a majority of my information from:  http://www.nps.gov/archive/moru/park_history/US%20History/men_behind_declaration.htm

Oh, and to answer the original question of why we have fireworks, the answer is: On July 4, 1777, congress adjourned to celebrate our call for Independence.  Fireworks were lit off that night and have been a tradition ever since!