Guestling Bradshaw CE Primary School

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

In the beginning of U.S.'s history, 13 colonies were ruled by the King of England, King George III. These colonies were tired of having a king 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean and decided they would no longer follow Britain’s orders. This was extremely dangerous: at the time, Britain had one of the world's strongest armies, and to go against the king was a crime punishable by death.

One of the reasons that the colonists rebelled against Great Britain is that they felt they were not represented in the British government. The British government was making new laws and taxes on the colonies, but the colonies had no say. It was unfair to pay high taxes and live by British rules if they were not involved in any decisions. They thought it was worth the risk of war to win the freedom to govern themselves.

War didn't happen right away. First there were protests and arguments. Then some small clashes between the colonists and the local British army. Things became worse over the years until the colonies and Great Britain were at war.

One of the key events leading up to the American Revolution was the Boston Tea Party on December 17, 1773. Was it a big, fun party with tea? Not really. There was tea involved, but nobody was drinking it. The Boston Tea Party was a protest by the American Colonists against the British government. They staged the protest by boarding three trade ships in Boston Harbour and throwing the ships' cargo of tea overboard into the ocean. They threw 342 chests of tea into the water. Some of the colonists were disguised as Mohawk Indians, but the costumes didn't fool anyone: the British knew who had destroyed the tea.

Throwing tea into the ocean might seem insignificant*, but tea was a favourite drink among the British and the colonies. It also was a major source of income to the East India Trading company, the only company the colonies were allowed to buy tea from (and of course, a British one). They were also told they had to pay high taxes on the tea. They refused to pay the taxes and asked that the tea be returned to England. When it wasn't, they decided to protest by throwing the tea into the ocean.

*The 342 containers contained 90,000 pounds of tea, worth the equivalent of a million dollars today!

Each colony had its own local government. In 1774 they each elected officials to represent them at the First Continental Congress. This was the first effort of the colonies to unite and make a single government. The Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where they appointed a committee to write a formal document that would tell Great Britain that the Americans had decided to govern themselves. The committee asked Thomas Jefferson to draft a paper to include everything important that the committee had discussed.

The new government of the United States would be different to Britain’s. Instead of a king, they wanted a government that was ruled by the people. Their new government would be a democratic government with leaders elected by the people. On June 28th 1776, the committee met to read Jefferson's document. The Second Continental Congress unanimously approved the Declaration of Independence on July 2nd 1776, and officially adopted it on July 4th 1776.

The Declaration of Independence did not end the American Revolutionary War – Britain did not want to give up her Empire without a fight.

The Battle of Yorktown in October 1781 was the last major battle, where British General Cornwallis’ surrender marked an unofficial end to the war.  But it was not until September 1783 that the Treaty of Paris ended the war officially.

During the American Revolutionary War, people decided that the country needed a flag to represent the united colonies. On June 14, 1777 the Second Continental Congress passed a Flag Resolution. This day is still celebrated as Flag Day in the United States.

The resolution said that the United States Flag would have 13 red and white alternating stripes and that there would be a blue area with 13 white stars. They didn't give an exact description of the flag and there were several different versions. Legend has it that seamstress Betsy Ross sewed the first American Flag from a sketch that George Washington gave her.

The flag has changed over the years, as the number of member states increased. The last change to the flag was in 1959 when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted. It now has thirteen red and white alternating stripes representing the original thirteen colonies, and 50 white stars representing the 50 states.

The flag has several nicknames. The most popular ones include the Star Spangled Banner, the Stars and Stripes, and Old Glory. The original ‘Star Spangled Banner’ flew over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, which was part of the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about the battle and flag that was later turned into a song. The song eventually became the National Anthem of the United States.