Happy Birthday America!!
I got the following from kaboose.com and thought it fitting for today’s blog…hope you enjoy!
Why do we celebrate the 4th of July??
Most people in the United States celebrate the 4th of July, but do you know exactly why the holiday is so important to our country? Imagine how you would feel if someone older than you (maybe an older sister or brother) kept telling you what to do all of the time and kept taking more and more of your allowance. That is how the colonists felt in the years leading up to 1776. Great Britain kept trying to make the colonists follow more rules and pay higher taxes. People started getting mad and began making plans to be able to make their own rules. They no longer wanted Great Britain to be able to tell them what to do, so they decided to tell Great Britain that they were becoming an independent country.
The Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and 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 write a draft of the document, so he worked for days, in absolute secret, until he had written a document that he thought said everything important that the committee had discussed. On June 28, 1776, the committee met to read Jefferson’s “fair” copy (he put his best ideas together and wrote them neatly.) They revised the document and declared their independence on July 2, 1776. They officially adopted it on July 4, 1776. That is why we call it “Independence Day.” Congress ordered that all members must sign the Declaration of Independence and they all began signing the “official” copy on August 2, 1776. In January of the next year, Congress sent signed copies to all of the states.
The Declaration of Independence is more than just a piece of paper. It is a symbol of our country’s independence and commitment to certain ideas. Well, the signers of the Declaration of Independence wanted the citizens of the United States to have a document that spelled out what was important to our leaders and citizens. They wanted us to be able to look at the Declaration of Independence and immediately think of the goals we should always be working for, and about the people who have fought so hard to make these ideas possible. The people who signed the Declaration risked being hanged for treason by the leaders in Great Britain. They had to be very brave to sign something that would be considered a crime! So every time we look at the Declaration of Independence, we should think about all of the effort and ideas that went into the document, and about the courage it took for these people to stand up for what they knew was right — independence!
Everyone be safe today and remember the people who have sacrificed in the name of freedom.
Comment here and tell me about your favorite Independence Day memories….even if you’re not an American, tell me about your favorite holiday memories from your home. I might even give out awards…hint hint……….
Happy Bloggin’ Ya’ll….
Soldier Defined…help me thank them.
Memorial Day is a precious event and should be cherished as such. See a soldier….thank a soldier….every member of the USA has the right to be whatever it is they dream to be thanks to the men and women who have fought for our freedom. Since my father retired military and I work for the military, I would say I owe my life to the military, but no…that’s not true. I owe my life to the military soldiers who sacrificed everything they had and everything they were so that I could be afforded the freedom to choose how to raise my children, receive my education, and essentially, live my life.
But I’m not the only one.
We all have a responsibility to show the families and friends of our precious soldiers who have died for this country that we recognize and appreciate. I would like to show my appreciation through a book called “Soldier Defined”. Please click on the page link at the top of this blog and let me know if you have someone you’d like to nominate for the first book and/or a non-profit military organization you believe could benefit from the donations involved after publication. (email me at expertofnone@gmail.com)
Since I get all mushy on holidays like this and have a bunch of homework to catch up on, I’m going to post my favorite photos (borrowed from facebook, so please let me know who to credit these to if you know) and call it a day.
In the meantime though, let me know…how do you thank our military members for what they do??
Please re-blog, forward, link, tweet, whatever you can do to help me get the word out! THANK YOU!
