Larry West is a freelance writer in the Pacific Northwest and a frequent contributor to MSN.
Making it official
The Fourth of July was not a federal holiday until 1941. Although July 4 had long been celebrated as the Independence Day holiday by tradition, and even by congressional decree, it was not officially a federal holiday until Congress agreed to give federal employees the day off with pay—and that didn’t happen until 1941.
It’s a sign
The 56 patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence did not place their names on the document on July 4, 1776, nor did they all sign at the same time. The official signing event was on August 2, 1776, when 50 of the men signed it. The others signed at various times over the next few months.
Patriotism or treason?
The names of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were not made public right away in an effort to protect the signers in case things went badly for the new nation. If the cause of independence had failed, their signatures on the Declaration would have marked them as traitors to Great Britain. According to British law at the time, that act of treason would have cost them their lives.
Nation building
On July 4, 1848, President James Madison, accompanied by First Lady Dolly Madison and a number of other VIPs, oversaw the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument. Three years later, on July 4, 1851, President Millard Fillmore took part in laying the cornerstone of the new Capitol Building.
Red, white and green?
Red, white and blue have not always been the colors traditionally associated with Independence Day celebrations. In 1778, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where the army was camped, General George Washington directed his soldiers to place “green boughs” in their hats to celebrate the day. He also issued the troops a double allowance of rum and ordered an artillery salute.
Grand old flag
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the design for an American flag. “Resolved: that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
More stars were added to the flag as new states joined the union. Arizona became the 48th star in 1912, and the 48-star flag would continue to wave for 47 years, until Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959. The new flag, with 50 stars, was flown for the first time on July 4 of that year.
More stars were added to the flag as new states joined the union. Arizona became the 48th star in 1912, and the 48-star flag would continue to wave for 47 years, until Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959. The new flag, with 50 stars, was flown for the first time on July 4 of that year.
Independent states
In 1781, Massachusetts became the first state to make July 4 an official state holiday. This occurred several months before the decisive American victory at Yorktown, Massachusetts, where British General Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army, which effectively brought a triumphant conclusion to the American Revolution.
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