Happy Independence Day from The Jefferson County Post

July 4^th is the date of one of America’s most beloved holidays: Independence Day! Independence Day celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, a revolutionary undertaking by the then-English colonists exactly 238 years ago on July 4, 1776. Unlike many holidays, both national and cultural, Independence Day was almost immediately celebrated in some capacity. In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired in the morning and evening of July 4, in Bristol, Rhode Island. Pennsylvania celebrated by holding a dinner for the Continental Congress, praying, singing, performing a 13-gun salute, and, yes, launching fireworks. Despite the popularity of the holiday, it was not until 1781 that Independence Day was recognized by the Massachusetts General Court , officially, as a state holiday for the first time. Ten years later (1791), the term “Independence Day” was officially coined. Little change was seen in the holiday for almost 80 years, until the U.S. Congress officially made Independence Day an unpaid federal holiday in 1870. Finally, in 1933, Independence Day became a paid federal holiday, as it stands today. Observation of the holiday is extremely widespread across the United States, with celebrations ranging from picnics to state-funded. New York City alone launched as much as 22 tons of fireworks in 2009. Furthermore, it is predicted that $600,000,000 will be spent on fireworks each Independence Day, with two-thirds of that number being spend on backyards fireworks. That translates into as much as $500-$1000 for a fifteen minute show, per typical 4^th of July party. This year July 4 falls on a Friday, which will cement the days surrounding the holiday as some of the most traveled in the entire year as families add the national holiday onto vacation plans.