Overview

• Communities across the country are preparing fireworks, parades, family gatherings, barbecues and online tributes to mark the 249th Independence Day.
• July 4 commemorates the Continental Congress’s 1776 adoption of the Declaration of Independence, principally authored by Thomas Jefferson to assert the colonies’ break from British rule.
• Congress designated July 4 as an unpaid federal holiday in 1870 and upgraded it to a paid holiday in 1938, following Britain’s formal recognition of U.S. sovereignty in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.
• Debates endure over the true anniversary of independence after John Adams and others argued that the July 2 vote, not July 4, should be the nation’s celebrated date.
• Modern observances meld time-honored customs with digital expressions of patriotism, from community cookouts to viral memes and social media status updates.