Independence Day
Dear Editor,
July 4 is the birthday of the United States of America. It is celebrated every year and is the very day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. John Adams said, “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations on the Great Anniversary Festival.” He said it ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.
Independence Day was first observed in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. In 1914, Congress declared July 4 as a federal holiday.
The Flag = 1777 – 13 stars in a circle
1795 – 15 stripes, 15 stars
1818 – went back to 13 stripes, 20 stars
1861 – during the Civil War, 34 states and included the South
1912-1959 – 48 stars served the longest until now, 50 stars
The Tennessee flag has three stars in a blue circle. Honoring our national flag should be and always be number one in our country. Respect!
The stars and stripes first flew:
Aug. 16, 1777 – Battle of Bennington in Vermont
Nov. 1, 1777 – on a Navy ship
Dec. 1, 1777 – flew in a force foreign land
Jan. 28, 1778 – Providence captured Fort Nassau
1784 – in the Pacific Ocean, sailed to Hong Kong
Sept. 30, 1787 to Aug. 10, 1790 – from Columbia to Boston
April 27, 1805 – U.S. Marines captured Derna Tripoli
May 1812 – flew over a school is Massachusetts
March 25, 1813 – on a naval battle in the Pacific
1840 – in the Antarctica
1861 – on a celebration day in Connecticut
April 6, 1909 – at the North Pole
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
God Bless America!
Sincerely,
Imogene Naylor
