22 Interesting 4th of July Trivia Facts You May Not Know
Updated: Jun. 01, 2022We celebrate America on July 4, but there are facts about this day that most people don't know. Here's some 4th of July trivia you can break out at the Independence Day barbecue to impress those history buffs.
Did you know this interesting 4th of July trivia?
If you’ve ever wondered, “What is the 4th of July anyway?” know that the holiday’s history is truly fascinating. The story of how the United States of America went from being a group of English colonies to an independent nation is filled with triumph, hardship, perseverance, and freedom. A lot happened when America became its own country, and there are key facts that most Americans know (like who signed the Declaration of Independence and other facts about it)—but there are other facts that not many people know. Here’s a rundown of interesting 4th of July trivia you may not know about, including key facts that inspired the 4th of July ideas and traditions we have today. After reading up on this trivia, learn the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—and bookmark these patriotic 4th of July quotes.
The 4th of July is our nation’s designated birthday
Independence Day, also known as the Fourth of July, is the day that’s long been designated as the birth date of America, which declared its independence from Great Britain by adopting the Declaration of Independence in early July 1776. You probably know about the importance of the 4th of July to our country’s history, but you may not have known that the Declaration of Independence wasn’t necessarily signed on July 4. Don’t worry, though—you can still stream these great 4th of July movies on July 4 itself.
The holiday could just as easily be celebrated on July 2
It was on the second day of July 1776 that the governing body of the 13 colonies, known as the Continental Congress, voted in favor of declaring themselves independent of British rule. But it was on July 4, 1776, that the Declaration of Independence was finalized as a written document, and it’s “July 4, 1776” that appears on the document as its official date. Don’t forget to add these 4th of July songs to your patriotic playlist this year.
John Adams wasn’t happy about the choice of dates
On July 3, 1776, John Adams, who went on to become our second president, wrote a letter to his wife, Abigail, to tell her how excited he was that Congress had voted in favor of independence. “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America,” he declared. Adams so firmly believed that July 2 was the correct day on which to celebrate American independence that he refused to appear at 4th of July events as a matter of principle. You can still celebrate Independence Day on the fourth, though—break out these fun 4th of July games at the family barbecue.
Independence Day could also technically fall on August 2
The Declaration of Independence was not actually signed until August 2, 1776. But as History.com explains, because the document bears the date of July 4, that’s the date people remembered as little as a year later, when the holiday was first celebrated.
America was working on gaining independence before 1776
By 1776, we’d actually been working on declaring our independence for years:
- 1773: The Boston Tea Party took place as a protest against British taxation of colonial tea.
- 1774: The First Continental Congress began meeting to discuss what to do about Britain’s imposing unfair laws on the colonies.
- 1775: The Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775, with the battles at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, and would continue until 1783, with America’s victory at Yorktown, New York.
Our nation’s constitution wasn’t in place in any form until 1789
It wasn’t until five years after our victory over the British in the Revolutionary War that the Articles of Confederation, the first version of what was to become the U.S. Constitution, were ratified by Congress. Since the Constitution is what actually defined our form of government and set boundaries on what our laws could and couldn’t do, it’s arguable that we weren’t actually “born” as a country until 1789.
What the Declaration of Independence actually says
The Declaration of Independence begins with the preamble, “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
In short, it means, “When a group of people decides to split from a country and become another country in its own right, it’s only fair to explain why.” The rest of the document does just that, beginning with defining what the basic rights of a people should be and enumerating the ways in which Great Britain had violated those rights. Find out the U.S. state facts that many people may not know.
About that “pursuit of happiness” line in the Declaration of Independence
Here’s an interesting piece of history trivia: Arguably the most famous line in the Declaration of Independence is the second sentence of the preamble, which begins, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But as originally drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the pursuit was not of happiness, but of “Property.” As the story goes, Benjamin Franklin convinced Jefferson to make the change because “property” was too “narrow” a notion.
And about Jefferson being its author
Thomas Jefferson is known as the author of the Declaration of Independence, but while he was the man officially responsible for drafting a formal statement of why the 13 colonies should break from Britain, the document was written by a five-man committee made up of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. Jefferson was not recognized as its principal author until the 1790s.
Who did the Declaration actually apply to?
Since the Declaration of Independence was adopted before slavery had been abolished (that didn’t happen until 1865), there are some who believe that the Declaration of Independence was not intended, at least at the time, to apply to everyone, but rather, only to free white men. But others disagree, perhaps most notably Martin Luther King, Jr., who said in his “I Have a Dream” speech that “when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the…Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note…that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights.” (We assume that Dr. King was also referring to women.)
A draft of the Declaration of Independence condemned the slave trade
In one of Jefferson’s earlier drafts of the Declaration of Independence, he called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” and denounced King George III for “creating and sustaining” the slave trade. The language was deleted from the final version. Jefferson owned more than 200 slaves in 1776.
A Pennsylvania newspaper was the first to publish the Declaration of Independence
It’s safe to say the adoption of the Declaration of Independence was big news in America—so much so that The Pennsylvania Evening Post published the document in its July 6, 1776 edition. It was the first newspaper in the colonies to run the Declaration of Independence in print.
The Declaration of Independence caused a riot at home
When the colonists in New York City found out about the Declaration of Independence from George Washington, who read it in front of City Hall on July 9, 1776, a riot broke out, in part as a reaction to the fact that British naval ships were occupying the harbor at the time. During the riot, a statue of King George III was torn down and melted down to make 42,000 musket balls for the revolutionary army.
The first official Independence Day celebration took place on July 4, 1777
The first official national celebration of America’s independence was held in Philadelphia on July 4, 1777. John Adams did not attend in protest of the date. The year 1777 was also the year the American flag was officially established.
Massachusetts was the first state to declare it a state holiday
The Bay State did so several months before the key American victory in Yorktown in 1781.
One of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence changed his mind
On November 30, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was captured by the British and forced to repudiate his declaration of independence and to swear his allegiance to King George. A little over a year later, he escaped the British and re-avowed his loyalty to our country.
A woman’s signature appears on some copies of the Declaration of Independence
Though she’s not an official signer, Mary Katharine Goddard, who was commissioned by Congress to print copies of the important document, added her name below the original signers. Though it’s not clear why she included her name, Goddard was a well-known patriot and one of the first women publishers and postmasters in the young country. Don’t miss these other female firsts.
The 4th of July wasn’t a national holiday until 1870
So, when was July 4 declared a national holiday? Turns out, it wasn’t until 1870 that Independence Day became a national holiday—nearly a century after the Declaration of Independence was signed. Christmas was declared a national holiday the same year.
Here’s why we set off fireworks on the 4th of July
At the first national Independence Day Celebration in Philly in 1777, 13 cannons were fired, one round for each state of the union, bells were rung, and fireworks were set off, according to the Smithsonian, which says the 4th of July fireworks tradition grew from there.
Here’s why we barbecue on Independence Day
The tradition of grilling out didn’t actually get going in earnest until the early 1800s, but Virginia colonists had been barbecuing large animals over a pit for years by then in a tradition they imported, apparently, from the West Indies. The practice is said to have spread as political leaders began staging rallies to mark Independence Day and drew crowds by staging massive barbecues featuring whole pigs and oxen. Now, people grill and whip up easy July 4th recipes for their loved ones to celebrate America’s independence.
The 4th of July hot-dog-eating contest tradition
Since 1972, Coney Island’s hot dog haven, Nathan’s Famous, has been marking Independence Day with a hot-dog-eating contest that’s now become so big that it’s broadcast on ESPN. The reigning champ, Joey Chestnut, holds the world record for the most hot dogs eaten (76!).
The July 4 “coincidence”
Both Presidents Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, and President James Monroe died on July 4, 1831. Some see it as meaningful, but it arguably seems less so when you consider that Adams never looked at July 4 as the “real” birthdate of American independence. Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872, the only president to have been born on Independence Day. The importance of Adams and Jefferson both dying on July 4 still doesn’t come close to these history lessons your teacher might have lied to you about in terms of shocking revelations.
Written with additional contribution from Kelly Kuehn.
Sources:
- History.com: “Writing of Declaration of Independence”
- Massachusetts Historical Society: “Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776, ‘Had a Declaration…'”
- USHistory.org: “The Declaration of Independence”
- The Atlantic: “The Pursuit of Happiness: What the Founders Meant—and Didn’t”
- PBS: “Rough draft of the Declaration Of Independence”
- History.com: “9 Things You May Not Know About The Declaration of Independence”
- The Washington Post: “This woman’s name appears on the Declaration of Independence. So why don’t we know her story?”
- Smithsonian Magazine: “Why We Set Off Fireworks on the Fourth of July”
- Slate Magazine: “What’s So Patriotic About Cookouts?”
- Nathan’s Famous: “The Hot Dog Eating Contest”
- ConstitutionFacts.com: “The Story of the Fourth of July”
- Library of Congress: “Transcript of Publishing the Declaration of Independence”
