Date and Origin of Independence Day

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Independence Day Dates in 2024, 2025 and 2026

Independence Day is observed at the following dates:

• Thursday, July 4, 2024
• Friday, July 4, 2025
• Saturday, July 4, 2026

Independence Day is celebrated on July 4 in the United States.

It is a national and federal holiday celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Indepence by the American founding fathers.

Origin

The Second Continental Congress of the thirteen British colonies in America met on July 4th to sign the Declaration of Independence, a document claiming sovereignty from the British crown¹. This document was unanimously approved on July 2 and was officially adopted on July 4, 1776. The final version, however, was signed primarily on August 2 of that same year¹.

Notable Independence Days

• 1777 Thirteen gunshots were fired in the morning and thirteen more in the evening in salute in Bristol, Rhode Island. An official dinner was held for the continental congress along with fireworks, toasts, troop reviews, 13-gun salutes, speeches, parades, music and prayers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania².
• 1778 General George Washington celebrated with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute in New Brunswick, New Jersey³. Meanwhile, Jon Adams and Benjamin Franklin held dinner for Americans in Paris, France⁴.
• 1781 The Massachusetts General Court is the first state legislator to recognize Independence day as a state celebration⁵.
• 1783 The first official recording of an Independence Day celebration in Salem, North Carolina and was titled Psalm to Joy by Johann Friedrich Peter⁵.

On September third, the treaty of Paris was signed, officially ending the Was of American Revolutionary War⁶.

• 1791 The first recorded use of the name “Independence day” for the holiday⁷.
• 1870 Congress makes Independence day an unpaid holiday for federal employees⁷.
• 1938 congress makes Independence day a paid holiday for federal employees⁷.

Celebration

Independence day is a nationalistic holiday marked by parades during the day when people exhibit their patriotism by donning the colors of the American flag; red, white and blue. Parades are usually held in the morning and firework displays are put on at night by both professionals and amateurs though restrictions apply in some areas.

Concerts are often held with performances of patriotic songs including the Star Spangled Banner, God Bless America, My country 'Tis of Thee, America the Beautiful and Stars and Stripes Forever. Sometimes this is accompanied by Yankee Doodle in northern states and Dixie in the south.