07/04/2026
THE BIRTH OF A NATION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA—JULY 4, 1776
Our nation’s first settlement was British Jamestown, VA in 1607. Settlements along the Atlantic coast expanded, including Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Through conquest or treaties, the British took control of New York. It was the defeat of the French, by the British, during the French and Indian War, that they gained control of the French territory, the Ohio Valley, and parts of Canada. All the colonies and Western territories now were under British rule and law. Previously, under William Penn’s government, all those seeking religious freedom, fleeing a government of harsh tyranny, and poverty came to Pennsylvania. Here they could enjoy freedom of speech and written opinions with the first printing press. There were free schools for children and libraries. The colony was noted for its interest in science, architecture and Indian friendship.
Tension grew between the British and the American colonies. To help pay their country’s debt, the British put taxes on the import of goods into the colonies that were needed by them. It was the Tea Tax in 1773, giving British East India Company the monopoly of the tea trade and the taxation of the colonist’s favorite beverage, tea, that was the final blow. The colonist called this, “Taxation with no representation”. The fire of revolt was ignited. In December 1773, a group of men dressed as Indians went aboard a ship docked in Boston Harbor, which was carrying casks of tea and dumped them into the harbor. Skirmishes began.
“The British are coming! The British are coming!” Paul Revere cried, as he evaded British guards in Boston, on his April 18 1775 midnight ride to alarm the people of Lexington that the British army was coming. It was on their march from Boston through Lexington on to Concord that the rage of war ignited. While in Lexington, the British killed 8 militiamen without a return fire from the Minute Men. It was April 19,1775, in Concord, at North Bridge, that the militiamen fired “the shot heard around the world.” This phrase was first used in the poem, “Concord Hymn” by Raph Waldo Emerson, in 1837. With the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914, this phrase was, once again, used with the start of WW1 that same year. That battle at North Bridge and the Battle of Bunker Hill demonstrated the colonists were determined and resolute in their beliefs.
General George Washngton was chosen to be Commander-in-chief of the ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-paid, and ill-trained Continental Army made up of men from the 13 colonies. Under Washington, this rag-tagged army became a fighting force. After a harsh winter of training and survival at Valley Forge (Dec. 19, 1777-June 19, 1778), the army was more disciplined and their morale boosted. The final, major battle was at Yorktown, where along with the aid of the French army under Marquis de Lafayette, Washington’s army had the surrender of British Gen. Lord Cornwallis in Oct.19, 1781.
The TREATY OF PARIS was signed in Paris September 1783 and in effect, in May 1784, after ratifications of both nations. Benjamen Frankland, John Adams negotiated.
America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)
By Rev. Samuel F. Smith - 1832
My country, 'tis of Thee,
Sweet Land of Liberty
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain side
Let Freedom ring.
The fantastic display of Zambelli’s 4th of JULY fireworks and setting off firecrackers in the backyard, symbolizes the ‘shot heard around the world.”
HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE 4TH OF JULY
