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Ten
Surprising Facts About the Fourth of
July
1.
Independence Day commemorates the formal adoption
of the Declaration of Independence on July 4,
1776. However, it was not declared a legal holiday
until 1941.
2. Fireworks were
made in China as early as the 11th century. The
Chinese used their pyrotechnic mixtures for war
rockets and explosives.
3. Uncle Sam was first popularized during the
War of 1812, when the term appeared on supply
containers. Believe it or not, the U. S. Congress
didn't adopt him as a national symbol until
1961.
4.
There are many precise rules for taking care of
the American Flag. And speaking of flag
traditions, we're sorry to report that contrary to
legend, historical research has failed to confirm
that Betsy Ross sewed the first
flag.
5.
Not all members of the Continental
Congress supported a formal Declaration of
Independence, but those who did were passionate
about it. One representative rode 80 miles by
horseback to reach Philadelphia and break a tie in
support of independence.
6. The first two
versions of the Liberty Bell were defective
and had to be melted down and recast. The third
version rang every Fourth of July from 1778 to
1835, when, according to tradition, it cracked as
it was being tolled for the death of Chief Justice
John Marshall.
7. The American
national anthem, the "Star-Spangled Banner," is
set to the tune of an English drinking song
"To Anacreon in
Heaven."
8. The iron framework
of the Statue of Liberty was devised by French
engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who also built
the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
9. The patriotic poem
"America the Beautiful" was published on July 4,
1895 by Wellesley College professor Katharine Lee
Bates.
10. Father of the
country and architect of independence George
Washington held his first public office at
the tender age of 17. He continued in public
service until his death in 1799.
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Oh beautiful for
heroes proved,
In liberating strife,
Who
more than self,
our country loved,
And
mercy more than life,
America, America may
God
thy gold refine,
Til all success be
nobleness
And every gain devined.
And you know when I was in
school,
We used to sing it something like this,
listen here:
Oh beautiful, for spacious
skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple
maountain majesties,
Above the fruited
plain,
But now wait a minute,
I'm
talking about
America, sweet America
You
know, God done shed his grace on thee,
He
crowned thy good, yes he did, in
brotherhood,
From sea to shining
sea.
You know, I wish I had
somebody to help me sing this
(America,
America, God shed his grace on thee)
America, I
love you America, you see,
My God he done shed
his grace on thee,
And you oughta love him for
it,
Cause he, he, he, he crowned thy
good,
He told me he would, with
brotherhood,
(From sea to shining Sea).
Oh
lord, oh lord, I thank you Lord
(Shining sea).
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aka
"I'm Proud
To Be An American"
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Pledge of Allegiance
“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.”
In 1892 the
Pledge Allegiance was
written by Francis
Bellamy,
a Baptist minister. The most heartwarming
definition of our pledge
of allegiance that I've heard is the
recording of the Pledge of Allegiance By Red
Skelton.
Our national anthem, The Star-Spangled
Banner, was
born out of the emotions experienced by Francis Scott
Key as he watched the bombardment
of Fort
McHenry during the War of
1812.
Read a brief history of
The Stars and
Stripes Forever by John Philip
Sousa and listen to a recording of
it, which is bound to get you in the mood for a
parade.
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Happy
4th of
July!
Let's
begin our Independence Day celebration
by raising the flag, then enjoy some music and a photo pictorial of this great
land.
You can learn more about
this holiday that began in 1776
at Independence Day. 
The history of our National
Anthem
and a narrative about its Four
Stanzas is a neat
read.
This is a good source for fireworks safety.
Here are some interesting fireworks
displays and
interactive
fireworks. Just for fun create your own
fireworks display
on-line.
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The Statue of
Liberty
"Give me your tired, your
poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe
free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming
shore.
Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside
the golden door."
The inscription on the
plaque is from a sonnet
titled "The
New Colossus"
written by Emma Lazarus in 1883. Author John
T. Cunningham wrote
that "the Statue of Liberty was not conceived and
sculpted as a symbol of immigration, but it
quickly became so as immigrant ships passed under
[the statue]. However, it was [Lazarus' poem] that
permanently stamped on Miss Liberty the role of
unofficial greeter of incoming
immigrants."
James
Russell Lowell wrote
that the poem gave the Statue of Liberty a "raison d'etre" [2] and Paul
Auster wrote that
"Bartholdi's gigantic effigy was originally
intended as a monument to the principles of
international republicanism, but 'The New
Colossus' reinvented the statue's purpose, turning
Liberty into a welcoming mother, a symbol of hope
to the outcasts and downtrodden of the world" [6].
Our Statue of Liberty is an important symbol of what
our country stands for. Learn all about this
National Monument and Ellis Island. The
National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA) is an independent federal agency that
preserves our nation's history and defines us as a
people by overseeing the management of all federal
records.
At U.S. National Archives &
Records Administration you will find interesting
narratives and the founding documents of our
great land. The Constitution of
the United States, and
The Bill of Rights.
Saul
Klein at Internet
Crusade researched the following links: Of
further interest in the history of our country's
independence take a look at the Biographical Sketches of America's Founding
Fathers and a
brief history about the declaration of
independence. The
Declaration of
Independence is also available in the following
languages: Italian,
French, Spanish, German, Polish, Russian, Hebrew,
Japanese, Bahasa Melayu.
Become a United States Citizen with
the information and forms at U.
S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services web
site. |
Our American Flag
 The
history of our American
flag began with the
widow Betsy Ross who is pictured at
right with the flag and the men who had
asked her to sew it: George
Washington, Robert
Morris, and George
Ross.
Show your
patriotism!
Print out several flags and display
them at your home and your
workplace.
Print a U.S.
Flag
Flag
Etiquette
Flag
Timeline
Did you know
this about our flag?
Fly your flag on
these holidays
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Make this 4th of July
a special day
...
For those
of us born in this great country the 4th of July
is a time to fly our flag, to get
together with our friends and loved ones, to have
a picnic, to eat too much and watch the
fireworks. We know the statue of Liberty, a
symbol of our freedom, stands sturdy in the
New York Harbor. And, for many of us it is a
"must see" on one of our vacations.
But for
those of us not born here, like my
grandparents, the sight of the statue growing
larger and larger as their ship came closer
to shore meant real freedom, real
opportunity, and real hope for a better life for
them and their children. The awesome size of
the Great Lady (305 feet tall) assured
them, yes, this is really AMERICA!
For my
grandparents the 4th of July was a day to cry
with joy, to kiss the earth of our great land, to
fly their flag, to have a picnic, to eat too much
and watch the fireworks. And, most of
all, it was a day to be reminded of
their deep thankfulness to be here in
AMERICA.
This year for many of
us Independence Day has added meaning,
especially to those who have friends and
family in the military and for those who
have lost loved ones in a war
that is still not over. I hope you will join
me in praying for peace. Hopefully, next year
our military men and women will be home with
us. Please pray for their safe return.
However you spend this 4th of
July I hope you will fly your flag and
remind yourself how very special you are to
live here in this great land ... AMERICA ... even
with all her faults.
Enjoy,
Joanne
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comment? Contact
Joanne | |
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United States
Capitol
My good
friend Jim Knudsen sent me the following, which
exemplifies this country's foundation and the
tremendous wisdom and God given foresight our
founding fathers had. This needs to be shouted
from the roof tops, the lead story on every
newscast and talk show, printed in every newspaper
and magazine and honored by everyone who lives in
this great land.
-- Joanne
Did You Know .
. .
As you
walk up the steps to the Capitol Building which
houses the Supreme Court you can see near the top
of the building a row of the world's law givers
and each one is facing one in the middle who is
facing forward with a full frontal view - it is
Moses and the Ten Commandments!
As you
enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge
oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on
each lower portion of each door.
As you
sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall,
right above where the Supreme Court judges sit, a
display of the Ten Commandments!
There are
Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal
Buildings and Monuments in Washington,
D.C.
James
Madison, the fourth president, known as "The
Father of Our Constitution" made the following
statement "We have staked the whole of all our
political institutions upon the capacity of
mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of
each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control
ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the
Ten Commandments of God."
Patrick
Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our
country said, "It cannot be emphasized too
strongly or too often that this great nation was
founded not by religionists but by Christians, not
on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus
Christ".
Every
session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid
preacher, whose salary has been paid by the
taxpayer since 1777.
Fifty-two
of the 55 founders of the Constitution were
members of the established orthodox churches in
the colonies.
Thomas
Jefferson worried that the Courts would overstep
their authority and instead of interpreting the
law would begin making law . . . an oligarchy . .
. the rule of few over many.
The very
first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said,
"Americans should select and prefer Christians as
their rulers."
How,
then, have we gotten to the point that everything
we have done for 220 years in this country is now
suddenly wrong and unconstitutional?
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John Wayne,
an American
Patriot
"Sure I wave the American flag.
Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I
love my country with all her faults. I'm not
ashamed of that, never have been and never will
be."
-- John Wayne
"Courage is being scared to death - but
saddling up anyway." -- John
Wayne
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in
life. Comes into us at midnight very clean.
It's perfect when it arrives and it puts
itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned
something from yesterday." -- John
Wayne
"I've always followed my father's advice:
he told me, first to always keep my word
and, second, to never insult anybody
unintentionally. If I insult you, you can be
goddamn sure I intend to. And, third, he
told me not to go around looking for
trouble."
-- John Wayne
"A man has to have a code,
a way of life to live by." -- John
Wayne From the
book "My Life With the Duke" US movie actor
& director (1907-1979)
John
Wayne, when asked how he wanted to
be remembered, replied: 'Feo, Fuerte y
Formal" - Spanish proverb meaning "He was ugly,
strong and had dignity."
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July 4th
Cards
Free July 4th
e-Cards
Free 4th of July Greetings
Reach out to your friends and
family
with a sparkling animated
e-Card.
Celebrate!
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View amazing graphics with
music
by Jacquie
Lawson:
America ... from sea to
shining sea
America the
Beautiful
An amazing arrangement of
all the
State Flowers
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