Holidays in USA

INDEPENDENCE DAY
(July 4)

"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

—words written on the Liberty Bell

By the middle of the 1700s, the thirteen colonies that made up part of England 's empire in the New World were finding it difficult to be ruled by a king 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean . They were tired of the taxes imposed upon them. But independence was a gradual and painful process. The colonists could not forget that they were British citizens, and that they owed allegiance to King George III.

A "tea party" and a "massacre" were two events that hurried destiny. Along with general unrest, these events united the colonists. In 1770 a tea company in India , owned by England , was losing money. To save the company, England levied a tax on tea sold in the colonies. Partly as a joke, Samuel Adams and other Bostonians dressed up as Indians and dumped a cargo of India Company Tea into the Massachusetts Bay . King George did not think it was funny, nor did he lift the tax on tea, In 1773, also in the Boston harbor, British soldiers were jeered and stoned by colonists who thought the soldiers had been sent to watch them. The soldiers fired into the crowd and killed a few citizens. The colonists exaggerated the number killed and called it a massacre.

Virginia took the first step toward independence by voting to set up a committee to represent the colonies. This First Continental Congress met in September of 1774. They drew up a list of grievances against the crown which became the first draft of a document that would formally separate the colonies from England . George Washington took command of the Continental Army, and began fighting the British in Massachusetts . For the next eight years, colonists fought fervently in the Revolutionary War,

In the meantime, a war of words was being waged in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress presented a second draft of the list of grievances; and John Hancock, the president of the Second Continental Congress, was the first to sign. The document, called the Declaration of Independence, was treasonous against the crown; and the fifty-six men who signed it were in danger of being executed.

Independence Day is celebrated on July 4 because that is the day when the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. From July 8, 1776, until the next month, the document was read publicly and people elebrated whenever they heard it. The next year, in Philadelphia , bells rang and ships fired guns; candles and firecrackers were lighted. But the War of Independence dragged on until 1783, and in that yean Independence Day was made an official holiday.

John Adams, a lawyer, the first Vice President, and the Second President of the United States , was one of the members of the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence. He wrote to his wife, "I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival... it ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other..."

John Adams may have predicted the later Independence Day celebrations, or perhaps he started traditions with his words. Every July fourth, Americans have a holiday from work. Communities have day-long picnics with favorite oods like hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, and all the fixings. The afternoon activities would not be complete without lively music, a friendly baseball game, three-legged races, and a pie- eating or watermelon-eating contests. Some cities have parades with people dressed as the original founding fathers who march in parades to the music of high school bands. At dusk, people in towns and cities gather to watch the fireworks display. Wherever Americans are around the globe, they will get together for a traditional 4th of July celebration!

The Declaration of Independence was first read in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Today, at the Freedom Festival at Independence Hall, costumed Americans re-enact historical scenes, and read the Declaration of Independence for the crowd. In Flagstaff , Arizona , American Indians hold a three-day pow-wow around the Fourth of July, with a rodeo and dancing. In Lititz , Pennsylvania , hundreds of candles that were made during the year are lighted in the park at night and floated in the water while a "Queen of Candles" is chosen. The ship U.S.S. John F. Kennedy comes in full sail to Boston Harbor in Massachusetts on the Fourth of July, and the Boston Pops Orchestra plays a musical concert of patriotic songs, as more than 150,000 people watch fireworks burst over the water.

The Fireworks Family

New Castle . Pennsylvania , is home to the Vitale Fireworks Display Company, responsible for more than one thousand fireworks shows every year. In 1922 Constantino Vitale brought his expertise at making fireworks from Italy to the United States . He passed his secrets on to his four sons, and since then have been making Americans exclaim "ooohhh" and "aaahhhh" at the lighted colors in the sky on uly 4 and other occasions. "It's like putting on a ballet show except that the dancers were above, painting the sky." says Vitale's granddaughter. "Seeing that spectacular display in the sky made me really love the country."

The sight and sound of a ringing bell represents freedom to most Americans. because of the Liberty Bell that rang in Philadelphia when a new country was born.

The Story of a Bell

Independence Hall in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, reposes one of the most cherished monuments of American history, the Liberty Bell which proclaimed the birth of this nation on July 8, 1776. The magnificent old veteran is 12 feet in circumference at the lip and weighs over a ton. On it is inscribed, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." But although it is as intimately associated with American independence as the Declaration of independence, the Liberty Bell like many Americans, is an immigrant, and it was not always known by its present name. It was originally known as the Old Statehouse Bell or the Province Bell. Back in 1751 civic leaders in Philadelphia decided to add a bell tower, a grand staircase, and a fine bell to the Statehouse. They wanted an appropriate bell to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Province of Pennsylvania . So they ordered a bronze bell from a famous bell foundry in London . Part of the order read: "Let the bell be cast by the best workmen and examined carefully before it is shipped,"

In 1752 the new bell arrived safely from England , but at the first blow from a hammer to test it, it cracked. Not wanting to delay by returning the bell to England , the officials ordered bell founders in Philadelphia to remedy the fault. Two times it was recast before it was finally ready.

On July 8, 1776, the bell rang to mark the occasion of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. On April 16, 1783 it proudly announced the proclamation of peace and the newly won independence of the United States of America .

At every event of national importance, the Liberty Bell joined its harmonious tones to the general acclaim: in 1789, the election of George Washington; in 1797, the election of John Adams; in 1799, the death of Washington ; and in 1801, the election of Thomas Jefferson. On July 4, 1826, the bell was nearly three quarters of a century old, and the nation whose birth it had helped to announce was now a lusty youngster of 50. Joyous indeed was the bell's sound on that occasion. Then, on July 8, 1835, while tolling for the funeral procession of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the great bell cracked.

Fearing that the crack would eventually destroy the historic bell, officials ordered it taken down from the tower. It was after this that the Liberty Bell received its name. Since then, the bell has been on display but has never rung. In fact, no one living knows the voice of the Liberty Bell, for it has never spoken since 1835. The crack which appeared on that occasion is prevented from widening by a mechanical device, called a spider, installed inside the bell.

A few years ago the bell foundry in London that originally cast the great bell made a friendly proposal— to ship the bell back to England , melt it, and recast it at no cost to the United States . The keepers of the bell considered the offer very seriously before giving an answer. Then they decided. The cracked liberty bell is a cherished symbol of America 's struggle for freedom. Just as a man's facial lines and creases are a visible sign of the stress and strain he has survived, so the crack in the Liberty Bell serves to remind Americans that their forefathers did not win liberty for their country and its people without strain and stress — and even extensive fractures. Therefore, on behalf of the American people, the officials thanked the London foundry for its generous offer, but refused, adding: "We like the bell as it is, crack and all. It is an important part of our heritage."

YANKEE DOODLE

Strangely, this patriotic song has derogatory origins. The music and words go back to 15th century Holland , as a harvesting song that began, "Yanker dudei doodle down." In England , the tune was used for a nursery rhyme, and later a song making fun of Puritan church leader Oliver Cromwell, because "Yankee" might be a mispronunciation of the word "English," and "doodle" refers to a dumb person. But it was a British surgeon, Richard Schuckburgh, who wrote the words which ridiculed the ragtag colonists fighting in the French and Indian War. Soon after, the British troops used the song to make fun of the colonists in the Revolutionary War. Yet it became the colonists' rallying anthem for that war.

Glossary

impose(d): v. to force upon

gradual: adj. slow

massacre: n. execution of a crowd of people

tevy(ied): v. to impose; force on

cargo: n. a load of things carried by airplane or ship

jeer(ed): v. to joke; to make fun of

exaggerate(d): v. to represent something as greater than it is

grievance(s): n. complaint

fervently: adv. strongly; passionately

wage(d): v. to engage in; to carry on

treasonous: adj. working against one's own country

pomp: n, great ceremony or display

predict(ed): v. to see the future

all the fixings: n. phrase, the sauces and extras that accompany a meal

three-legged race: n. phrase, a foot race in which one person's left leg is tied to another person's right leg, and they must run on three legs

founding fathers: n. phrase, the men who wrote the Constitution and led the United States in its early years

re-enact: v. to perform again

pow-wow: n. meeting of Native Americans

expertise: n. skill combined with experience

repose(s): v, to rest, to be located

lip: n. edge

inscribe(d): v. to write permanently

inhabitant(s): n. a resident; a person who lives in a specific place

bell tower: n. a tall structure where bells are hung staircase: n. steps

foundry: n. a factory where large steel objects are made

cast: v. to shape melted metal by placing it in a form

recast: v. to shape metal again

lusty: adj. strong, hearty

toll(ing): v. to ring

cherished: adj. ioved and respected

crease(s): n. wrinkle; fold

strain: n. pressure

derogatory: adj. insulting

ridicule(d): v. to make fun of

ragtag: adj. wearing worn-out uniforms or clothing

rally(ing): v. to bring together in united effort

hasty puddin': n. a dessert of flour and sugar made quickly

amber waves of grain: n. phrase, abundant fields of wheat and corn which look like a golden sea

fruited plain: n. phrase, an agricultural area rich with food

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